Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian B ‘spotted running from rape scene'

01 October 2023 , 09:32

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Christian Brueckner, 47, is accused of raping an Irish student just a few miles from where Maddie McCann was snatched (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

The prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's abduction was allegedly spotted running from the scene of a violent rape a few years before the tot's disappearance.

Christian Brueckner, 47, is set to appear in court next year accused of raping Irish student Hazel Behan after breaking into her flat in Praia da Rocha, Portugal. The alleged assault took place just 10 miles from the Praia da Luz apartment where Maddie was snatched three years later. Maddie, then three, vanished in May 2007 while holidaying with her family, from Rothley in Leicestershire. Witnesses had already reported seeing a figure draped all in black scaling an apartment block to break into the Irish student's room in June 2004.

Hazel Behan was working as a holiday rep at the time of the attack (Internet Unknown)

Speaking of the sighting, a source told The Sun: “A new witness has contacted the police. He was starting his early morning shift at a nearby hotel and said he saw a man dressed in black running from the apartment block. He could see the man because he had taken off a mask and he identified him to police as Christian B.”

The Praia da Roche rape trial, which is being held in the German town of Braunschweig, is just one of a string of accusations against the known paedophile on the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.

Hazel, who is now 40 and previously worked as a holiday rep, waived her right to anonymity as a victim of sexual assault last year. She said: “I always said my attacker was a German with piercing blue eyes and a voice I would recognise immediately. When Christian B’s name was released in connection to the Madeleine case, I knew it was him. It made me sick.”

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Hazel was attacked at her apartment in Praia da Rocha

Last week, it was reported that Brueckner had failed to have his case thrown out, as he had previously boasted, and that he now cannot delay his trial any further. The paedophile and violent sex offender, who is currently in a German prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same region of the Algarve, tried to put his court date back but has lost his legal bid, it has been claimed. His lawyers attempted to play for time by getting the probe switched to another region.

But now it appears have been knocked back, and that means police can push forward with their bid to take the 46-year-old to trial. Had his team been able to gain support, it could have set the case back years. It comes as police and prosecutors said this summer they are "electrified" by new evidence against him.

Maddie McCann vanished from her apartment while on holiday with her family in nearby Praia da Luz (PA)

Brueckner is the prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance (PA)

He is said to have boasted about owning the tools for breaking into people's homes to a pal, which could derail the long-held theory that little Madeleine's abductor clambered through a window before snatching her from her room in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Investigator Hans-Christian Wolters told The Sun: “This is a relief for us. It is always nice when you get an affirmation of the way you had seen things. The Regional Court here had said Christian B’s last residence has been in Saxony-Anhalt, and therefore we were not the correct investigative jurisdiction for this case. "We appealed to the Higher Regional Court.”

Brueckner's lawyer Friedrich Fülscher said: “The decision must be accepted at this point. What now needs to happen is the Regional Court must decide whether the degree of suspicion we have against Christian B is sufficient to hold a trial. If yes, they need to set the date for a hearing.”

Ryan Fahey