An Irish woman who accused Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner of rape says the prospect of his imminent release from prison is “genuinely terrifying.”
Brueckner (48), whose sentence for a separate rape is due to end in September, has applied for early release - and reportedly could now walk free in the next two weeks.
Reacting to the bombshell news, Hazel Behan, who accused Brueckner of rape in a high profile trial last year, exclusively told us of her shock: “One thing I can say, is I believe him to be a very dangerous person who poses a threat to women and children. “The idea that a person like that would have the luxury of being free to roam the streets once again is genuinely terrifying. His release from prison will negatively impact so many lives, which is deeply concerning,” she added.
German prosecutors named Christian Brueckner as the sole suspect in the murder of missing girl Madeleine all the way back in 2020 - but have yet to charge him with any offence. This week Braunschweig Chief Public Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters confirmed that Brueckner had filed a motion for early release - but denied reports that there were plans to try and charge him over the suspected murder of Madeleine - before he could walk free.
“There are currently no plans to file charges in the Maddie case,” Mr Wolters told the UK’s Independent. "We are currently awaiting the decision of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe regarding the cases heard last year. However, that will certainly take a few more months.”
It means if Brueckner is successful in his ask for early release, he could be freed within days - and disappear. Brueckner was acquitted of the rape of Hazel Behan after a lengthy trial last year - when a Judge ruled there was a lack of evidence in the case. The monster is now coming to the end of his seven year sentence for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal. A court is now in the process of considering an appeal of his acquittal - with Hazel previously telling us how she hoped to face him in court again.
In an exclusive interview with this paper’s podcast Shattered Lives, Dublin native Hazel also revealed how she sometimes blames herself that he wasn’t caught for the rape before Maddie (3) was taken three years later. “I'd actually love to speak to them (Madeleine’s parents) for completely different reasons, I suppose than maybe other people would think. The best way I can describe it is - say you're in this space with strangers and something really, really bad happens - you're automatically connected to these people for the rest of your life, because they're the only ones who know what this experience is,” Hazel told us.
“So oddly and maybe as f***ed up as this sounds, but me and anyone else who had experience of this man are connected to each other. So, you know, as a mother, and a parent, I can't imagine what that family went through and goes through on a daily basis. But as I said earlier, there was always a guilt in me that I wasn't stronger when I was younger to do more, because in a world of ifs - if I had it of done that, if I had stood up more, if I had have insisted on them (the Portuguese police) investigating my case…maybe she would still be with her parents.”
In the wide ranging interview, Hazel also spoke about suffering from PTSD from the violent rape she suffered in Portugal in 2004, and of her fears for her own safety on the day of his release. “He knows who I am. Well, he always knew who I was, I just didn’t know who he was. But I suppose now, at this stage, he knows me a lot better as this person that I am now. But I can't live in that fear if you know what I mean? “I have to remind myself all the time that you know I am not that kind of person. I don't live that kind of lifestyle at all like, in fact, quite the opposite, thankfully. But I can't allow for him to take any more from me than he already has, and I'm not going to give him that.
“Like, is there a fear in the back of my mind? 100 percent. But my fear isn’t just as I said about me. It’s bigger than that. I mean if he wants to come at me again he better put his boxing gloves on because I’m ready for him this time. I’m not 20 anymore. I’m not a baby and I will kick ten shades of sh*te out of him if he came near me again. But, on a real human level and not to be funny or anything, but yeah he terrifies me,” she told us.
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