Madeleine McCann suspect Brueckner cleared of all charges at rape trial (original) (raw)

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner may be out of jail next year as he's cleared of rape

Christian Brueckner, 47, has been on trial in Germany, accused of raping women and exposing himself to children in the Algarve. But today, he was cleared of all charges

Christian Brueckner arrives in court in Braunschweig, Germany

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has been cleared of all charges at his rape trial in Germany.

The 47-year-old has been on trial accused of raping women and exposing himself to children in the Algarve. The charges are unconnected to the Madeleine case, which the German paedophile denies any involvement in.

Brueckner is suspected of abducting Madeleine in Praia da Luz in 2007 and then killing her. Her parents Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leicestershire, were dining with friends when the three-year-old vanished. Prosecutors previously claimed to know the British youngster is dead but have never revealed what evidence they have. Brueckner was named by German and British police as the prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance in June 2020.

Brueckner with defence lawyer Dr Friedrich Fulscher (

Image:

Phil Harris)

But the breakthrough came three years earlier, when Helge Busching, his former friend, rang Scotland Yard with information. He claimed Brueckner had said “she didn’t scream” when the pair discussed the case in a Spanish bar in 2008.

Busching left a voicemail for the Operation Grange team, who have been investigating the Madeleine case since 2011. Giving evidence in court, Det Con Mark Draycott recalled how he rang him back the following day. “Back then we still had a public phone number which was publicised around the world,” he said.

“Members of the public could ring in information in relation to Operation Grange, the Madeleine McCann investigation. One of my jobs was to check the answer phone messages. On May 18th I checked the answer phone and there was a message.

“It was from a male by the sound of his voice, he spoke good English and he asked to speak to David Edgar (private investigator). He said he had information and he left a Greek mobile number.

“I then rang this Greek mobile number and spoke to a male I now know to be Helge Lars Busching He referred to himself as Lars and he gave information in relation to the Madeleine McCann investigation.”

DC Draycott shared the information with German and Portuguese authorities, sparking the probe into Brueckner. He was part of a Scotland Yard team which flew to Athens three months later to question Busching in top secrecy.

The interview took place in August 2017 in a hotel - after bugging equipment was brought in to check for listening devices. Busching had been released from a Greek jail weeks earlier and was on parole at the time. “We spoke to him over two days and he gave us information in relation to the Madeleine McCann case,” DC Draycott revealed.

“He was scared, he had a distrust in the police. He was scared of giving a statement in such a high-profile case. He said he had a conversation with Christian at the Orgiva Festival in 2008. That conversation was in relation to Operation Grange. I can’t talk about that.

DC Draycott said Busching flew to London in February 2018 to give a formal statement at Scotland Yard. The detective was asked repeatedly by Brueckner’s lawyers about the Madeleine McCann case. But DC Draycott said he had been ordered by his Scotland Yard superiors not to discuss the ongoing case.

It was during his interviews that Busching told detectives about other alleged crimes carried out by Brueckner in Portugal. He claimed to have found videos in his Praia da Luz home of the convicted paedophile raping women.

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison term for raping an American pensioner in Praia da Luz. Detectives appear no closer to proving he was behind Madeleine's disappearance - despite claiming they have proof she is dead. But they are now under pressure to charge him.