Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, could face a new rape trial as German prosecutors seek to overturn his previous acquittal on a string of sex charges.
The 49-year-old German remains the chief suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine, the three-year-old British girl who vanished from a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. Brueckner has never been charged in relation to the disappearance and has always vehemently denied any involvement. However, both German prosecutors and Met Police detectives maintain he remains the prime suspect.
Background and current status
Brueckner was released from prison in September last year after serving a sentence for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005. Since leaving jail, he has been living under 24/7 police guard with an ankle tag in the north-eastern German city of Kiel.
Last week, he was fined £2,500 for insulting prison officers during his rape sentence, calling one “the son of a whore”. In a stunt to protest his police surveillance, Brueckner cycled 160 miles to his court appearance relating to the prison insults. In a statement to this newspaper, he moaned that the “oppressive persecution” was driving him “insane”.
The appeal and charges
The latest bid to bring the paedophile back to court centres on him being cleared in October 2024 of five alleged sex offences in Portugal, including the rape of a woman in her holiday apartment and the sexual abuse of children. Prosecutors are now fighting to have that verdict overturned – and Germany’s highest criminal court has announced the appeal will be heard in Leipzig on January 11.
Two women involved in the original case have also launched their own appeals against the verdict, which was handed down by the Braunschweig Regional Court following a lengthy trial.
Details of the alleged offences
Brueckner had been accused of committing five offences in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017. However, the appeal is only being made against four charges.
One of the most shocking allegations concerned the rape of an elderly woman, which prosecutors claimed had been filmed. But the judges ruled that witnesses’ descriptions of the alleged video were not enough to establish what had happened. Another charge concerned the rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan, who has waived her right to anonymity, who was attacked in her holiday apartment after a man climbed onto her balcony. The court accepted that an assault had taken place but ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove Brueckner was the attacker.
He was also cleared of sexually abusing a child on a beach in the Portuguese resort of Salema, around seven miles from Praia da Luz, with judges again ruling that his involvement could not be proven. A further charge concerned allegations that he exposed himself and masturbated in front of a young girl at a playground in Messines, Portugal.
Outcome of the appeal
The prosecution’s appeal, which is being conducted by the Federal Prosecutor General, challenges the judgment on all the above charges. Ms Behan and the now-adult woman attacked on the beach are appealing against the respective verdicts. Judges will decide whether the original court made legal mistakes which could justify overturning the acquittals and ordering a new trial.
