MADELEINE McCann suspect Christian Brueckner ‘winked’ as he entered the courtroom today for the start of his multiple sex crimes trial in Germany.
The 47-year-old paedophile is accused of multiple sexual assaults against women and children in Portugal and Germany throughout the early and mid 2000s.
One charge accuses the German native of grabbing a girl on a beach near Praia da Luz in 2007, the resort where Madeleine vanished from just weeks later.
Although he is not being tried for the disappearance of the British toddler, his lawyer addressed the case during his opening statements at Braunschweig court.
READ MORE: Army of witnesses line up to testify in Christian Brueckner trial
It came a week after proceedings were postponed for seven days after a lay judge’s violent tweets about Brazilian ex-president Jairo Balsinero saw her taken off the case.
In a surprising outburst, Dr Friedrich Fulscher told the court: “Since June 2020, our client Christian Brueckner has been under constant worldwide media fire.
“According to the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office, he allegedly abducted and murdered Madeleine McCann.”
He accused the authorities of “repeating this theory to the media like a prayer wheel”, insisting the results of the Maddie investigation “have not yet been presented to the defence” for the accused to answer to.
He called on the court to “free itself from these ulterior motives” when looking at “the procedural truth and assessing the evidence with regard to the accusations levelled.”
He added: “We are not hearing the best-known missing persons case of the post-war period, but five other serious allegations with numerous legal and factual difficulties for the taking of evidence.”
Prosecutors, meanwhile, told the court that Brueckner used a date rape drug on his victims.
Irishwoman Hazel Behan, is said to have been tied to a table and raped, after Brueckner scaled the balcony of her apartment in Portugal to launch his attack.
He allegedly told her: “You are afraid of me aren’t you?”
The prosecution said Behan was convinced Brueckner was going to “cut her head off”.
The prosecutor said: “He was dressed entirely in black, wearing leather gloves and a full face mask.
“He held a knife with an approximately 30cm long blade in his left hand, knelt over the sleeping victim and called her name, which woke her up.
“While she was panicking, he told her in a serious but calm tone not to scream.”
Among Brueckner’s alleged victims is a 14-year-old girl, who he is said to have tied to a post in Praia da Luz and raped.
Prosectuors told the court that she begged him to stop, yelling “this is kidnapping, this is rape”, before vomiting.
Brueckner is then alleged to have told her: “Now you’re messing up my entire carpet.”
Brueckner denies all charges. The trial continues.
