‘I believe this man is the attacker’: Irish woman accuses Madeleine McCann suspect in rape case

Irish woman Hazel Behan has described as “very unusual” an email seeking information from her from the defence lawyer of Christian Brückner, whom she accuses of raping her in Portugal in June 2004.

The 40-year-old Westmeath native told a German court on Wednesday the 2004 attack, during her summer in Portugal as a holiday rep, had left her with lasting physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Nearing the end of nearly 10 hours of testimony at Braunschweig regional court on Thursday, Ms Behan said: “I believe that this man is the attacker.”

Christian Brückner (47) faces three cases of rape and two cases of indecent assault. He is also the chief suspect in the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

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Wearing a crumpled blue jacket and cream trousers, he remained impassive throughout the hearing, occasionally raising his right index finger to his chin or lower lip. Sitting metres away from each other, Brückner and Ms Behan avoided each others’ gaze.

In the afternoon Gabriele Rieke, lawyer for Ms Behan, read out an email from Brückner’s defence lawyer, Friedrich Fülscher, to her client in August 2020 seeking information from her about the case and his client, whom he insisted was innocent.

Mr Fülscher wrote to Ms Behan that, as an experienced lawyer in sexual offences trials, he knew “what a relief it can be if the perpetrator is punished for it; it just has to be the right one”.

Ms Behan told the court the letter left her feeling “wounded” and that “in Ireland it wouldn’t be allowed”.

“I don’t know this man, he was disputing what I said by saying – not directly – that I was wrong,” she added.

In tense cross-examination, Ms Behan was asked repeatedly how she could positively identify Brückner given her attacker was dressed entirely in black, covered up except for his eyes.

Even in her darkened bedroom, Ms Behan said her attacker’s striking blue eyes “were just lights, so bright”.

“It is bored into my skull, I will never forget it,” she said.

Ms Behan said she “retched” after learning of Brückner’s conviction for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal, for which he has one year left on a seven-year sentence.

[ Irish woman says she will ‘never forget’ eyes of alleged rapist and chief suspect in Madeleine McCann case ]

[ Irish woman gives evidence of brutal rape 20 years ago allegedly by chief suspect in Madeleine McCann disappearance ]

In the afternoon, after Ms Behan had been dismissed, Brückner’s defence presented an expert opinion that peripheral vision can lead to distortion of colour perception and that “in low light no certain colour identification is possible”.

This was disputed by the prosecutor and prompted Judge Uta Engermann to ask Brückner to approach the bench so she could inspect his eyes.

Subsequently she asked all lawyers to inspect photographs of the accused’s leg and thigh area, where Ms Behan claimed she saw a mark of some kind.

In his cross-examination, Mr Fülscher highlighted how, in various witness statements, Ms Behan described the mark variously as a scar, tattoo, birthmark or a clump of material.

“I didn’t know what this marking was, I cannot recall word for word what I said,” said Ms Behan.

Mr Fülscher told the court Brückner had a small scar in his groin area from a testicle operation as a child.

Still in therapy with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Behan said anti-depressants and panic attacks would remain a “part of my daily life”.

Asked why she gave interviews about her experiences, Ms Behan said she was inspired by hearing another person’s radio interview about a different, equally difficult experience.

“I wanted other women to feel there was a safe place they could contact,” she said. “I had nowhere, that was the reason why.”

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