Christian Brueckner’s lawyer brags he’ll get Madeleine McCann suspect off rape charges as case commences

Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner’s lawyer has pledged to get him cleared of a string of rape charges, claiming the trial is a “witch hunt”.

Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner was today led into court wearing handcuffs as he faces a string of rape charges.

Brueckner, 47, brazenly strode into the hearing with a blank expression on his face before the trial was suspended after his lawyer went on a rant.

He is accused of three rapes and two sex assaults.

Charges being heard at Braunschweig Regional Court are not related to Maddie, who he is suspected of abducting 17 years ago.

Christian Brueckner was in handcuffs as he walked into court. Credit: Dan Charity

He wore a purple shirt and blue linen blazer. Credit: Dan Charity

Brueckner was pictured looking downcast wearing a dark green hooded jacket as he arrived in a van with bars over the window.

It is the first time he has been pictured since 2020 when he hobbled out of a hospital in shackles after being assaulted in prison.

While defendants in Germany have the right to obscure their faces, Brueckner unashamedly chose not to.

Photographers and TV cameras crowded around the Maddie suspect, shielded from reporters and the press by protective Perspex.

He was led to the defence bench where his handcuffs were removed and where he sat next to his lawyer Dr Friedrich Fülscher.

Brueckner was smartly dressed in suede boots, a light blue blazer, and tie-less purple shirt.

Fülscher said he was confident he could defend him against the allegations — including a knifepoint rape of an Irish holiday rep in 2004.

He claimed the charges were part of a witch-hunt against Brueckner, 47 — also suspected of abducting three-year-old Madeleine 17 years ago.

Dr Fülscher revealed he had brought in a powerful and expensive defence team, insisting: “I am convinced that there can only be an acquittal at the end of the trial.”

German drifter Brueckner was identified four years ago as the main suspect in the abduction of Madeleine from her family’s holiday flat in Portugal in 2007.

The main suspect in the disappearance of little British girl Madeleine McCann, almost 17 years ago, will be tried on February 16, 2024 in Germany.

As the judges were sworn in Brueckner appeared business-like consulting papers on the desk in front of him.

Brueckner appeared at Braunschweig regional court in front of a panel of five judges - as Germany does not use a jury system.

His lawyer Fülscher, funded by legal aid, immediately set about trying to discredit one of the lay-judges who will help decide Brueckner’s verdict - by claiming she has called for the assassination of a president on social media.

He said the woman had written “kill the b*****d now” and “kill the devil”, referring to Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro.

Dr Fülscher said the remark meant she was unfit to sit on the case and could not be relied upon as far as his client was concerned.

The hearing was adjourned before Judge Christina Engelmann ruled the lay judge could not preside over the case because of the posts.

Brueckner’s hearing has now been adjourned until next Friday so a replacement lay judge can be found.

Outside the court, Brueckner’s lawyer whinged it was no surprise his client looked unwell.

Dr Fülscher said: “He’s been for two years in solitary confinement, so of course he is not healthy.”

Prosecutors allege Brueckner raped three women and twice sexually molested children in Portugal.

His alleged victims include Irish mum Hazel Behan, who says he raped her when she was 20 and working as a ­holiday rep in Portugal in 2004.

He is also charged with raping and abusing a teenage girl and a 70 to 80-year-old woman at his house in Praia da Luz between December 2000 and June 2006.

Further sickening allegations the court heard were that he masturbated in front of a girl at a playground in Messines in June 2017.

He also faces claims he did the same in front of another girl, on Salema beach, Portugal, in April 2007.

German drifter Brueckner is already in jail serving a seven-year sentence for rape.

A fresh conviction will keep him behind bars — as fears grow he may never be charged over Madeleine’s disappearance.

Brueckner was identified four years ago as the main suspect in the abduction of Madeleine from her family’s holiday flat in Portugal in 2007.

German investigators believe Brueckner abducted and murdered her - although no charges have been filed against him.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission