Christian Brueckner’s Irish ‘rape victim’ will be under police protection ahead of his sex assault trial and ‘not even her husband will be allowed near her’ as she prepares to face the Madeleine McCann suspect in court

An Irish woman who was allegedly raped by Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner will be kept under police protection ahead of his sex assault trial next year, MailOnline can reveal.

German prosecutors confirmed last night that Brueckner, 46, will finally go on trial on February 16 next year over five sex crimes, three of which involve minors.

One of three victims that Brueckner is accused of raping is Irish national Hazel Behan who was just 20 when she was viciously attacked by ‘a German man with piercing blue eyes’ in Portugal during a four-hour ordeal in 2004.

Ms Behan, now 40, has revealed that she was given Brueckner’s trial date last week when two German detectives visited her to go through the ‘fine details’. She said she was told the trial could last ‘for three months’.

The alleged victim, who was raped at knifepoint, was informed that she will be ‘carefully guarded’ amid fears for her safety in the lead up to the trial – with police advising that not even her husband will be able to come with her to court. 

One of the three victims that Brueckner (left) is accused of raping is Irish national Hazel Behan (right) who was just 20 when she was viciously attacked during a four-hour ordeal in Portugal

Ms Behan (pictured) confirmed she was given the start date as February 16 and that the trial could last ‘for three months’

German prosecutors confirmed last night that Brueckner, 46, will finally go on trial on February 16 next year over five sex crimes. He is also the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann (pictured) case but has never been formally charged 

‘They came over to Dublin and we spent a day going through all the logistics,’ she said.

READ MORE: Christian Brueckner will face justice at last over attacks on women and children: Madeleine McCann suspect’s rape trial court date FINALLY revealed by German prosecutors 

‘They are well advanced and extremely organized and are taking no chances with my safety.

‘Nobody will be allowed to get near me. Not even my husband can come with me.’

She added: ‘I can’t wait to finally look my attacker in the eyes and see him face justice.’

It comes after a childhood friend of Brueckner last month opened up over fears that the paedophile would come back to take revenge on her after she revealed she knew him as a teenager when he was part of a gang in Wuruzburg, Germany. 

In the case of Ms Behan, in Portimao, in 2004, the potential evidence was illegally destroyed, for no explained reason, within two years.

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: ‘We expect Hazel to be giving her evidence for a couple of days and then it will be the turn of the other victims and witnesses.

‘The court will have translators in various languages and will be fully prepared.

‘An official press release with all the details will be issued shortly.’

In the case of Ms Behan (pictured telling her story to Irish broadcaster Ryan Tubridy in 2020), in Portimao, in 2004, the potential evidence was illegally destroyed, for no explained reason, within two years.

Ms Behan was allegedly raped in an apartment in Praia da Rocha, Portugal, in 2004 (building exterior pictured)

Ms Behan was attacked in the resort town of Praia da Rocha, which is around 20 miles away from Praia da Luz – where Madeleine was abducted in 2007

Brueckner is charged with five offences between 2000 and 2017 when he was travelling between his native Germany and Portugal.

Along with the alleged attack of Ms Behan, he will be tried for two other rapes he filmed at his former residence outside Praia da Luz, the same area where Madeleine McCann disappeared.

These cases involve the brutal sexual assault of an unidentified teenager and an older woman in her sixties.

Brueckner also faces two additional charges related to shocking child sex offences, including the assault of a 10-year-old German girl on a beach near Praia da Luz, just a month before Madeleine’s disappearance.

The assailant was witnessed by the girl’s brother, and her parents have identified him as Brueckner.

The fifth charge Brueckner faces relates to allegedly exposing himself to four young children in a playground in Sao Bartolome de Messines, on the Algarve, in 2017.

Pictured: Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said the trial will begin on February 16, a Friday and a half day, ‘but there should be enough time to hear all the charges’

The prosecutor also said that the investigation ‘very much continues’ into the Maddie case and he expects a trial date for the abduction to be ‘set soon’. Pictured: Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate in 2017

An off-duty female officer was fortunately nearby and was able to detain him before discovering there was a European arrest warrant out for Brueckner.

The following year he was tried and found guilty of the horrific, sadistic rape of an American pensioner, also in Praia da Luz, in 2005.

He is currently serving seven years for the offence, in which one of his hairs was found in the 72-year-old’s bedroom.

The paedophile is also the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case. He is accused by detectives of killing Madeleine – who disappeared during a family holiday in the Algarve in May 2007 – but has not been formally charged. 

Brueckner’s trial will take place at Braunschweig High Court and is expected to last for ‘up to three months’. It will be presided over by a ‘panel of four to five judges’, it can be revealed.

Brueckner’s lawyer has ‘accepted’ the start date, despite filing a claim against one of the key witnesses, Helge Busching, last week.

Prosecutor Wolters brushed off the official complaint over Busching – a former acquaintance of the German sex offender, to whom he allegedly confessed the Maddie abduction to in 2008.

‘It will not be a problem at all, don’t worry. I spoke to Helge yesterday and it’s only an attempt to paint him in a bad picture,’ said Wolters.

‘We understand the issue and he will be fine.’ 

Revealing the trial date yesterday, Wolters said: ‘It’s set to begin on February 16, a Friday and a half day, but there should be enough time to hear all the charges,’ revealed prosecutor Wolters.

‘Everyone is available that day and assuming there are not too many holdups from Christian’s lawyer, Mr Fulscher, we will hear his reply to the charges.’

He continued: ‘The first witnesses will be brought in the following week.

‘There will be four to five judges, two of them lay judges, normal people who are brought in for such cases.’

Wolters also confirmed that the investigation ‘very much continues’ into the Maddie case and he expects a trial date for the abduction to be ‘set soon’.

‘It’s certainly ongoing and I’m heavily involved, but the focus right now is on the trial in February,’ he added.

Brueckner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, has continually denied all the attacks and wants to see the Diana Menkes rape conviction re-opened.

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