Christian Brueckner’s lawyer blasts prosecutors for labelling him Madeleine McCann ‘prime suspect’ and says it is impossible for him to get a fair trial as he returns to court on unrelated rape charges

Christian Brueckner’s lawyer blasted prosecutors for labeling him as Madeleine McCann’s “prime suspect.” He said it is impossible for him to get a fair trial when he returned to court this morning on unrelated rape charges.

Brueckner’s defense team opened the proceedings with a furious attack on local prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, naming him as the “main suspect.”

Atilla Aykac stressed that despite almost four years of investigation, no charges have been filed in Madeleine’s disappearance and that his legal team has still not received the files.

He said: ‘The disappearance of Madeleine McCann is one of the biggest cases in the world, yet our client has not been charged and we have seen no files.

‘This is the fault of the Public Prosecution Service and has created a worldwide feeling of shame towards our client.

“This harms our client’s case and the court’s ability to try him fairly.”

He then accused Mr Wolters – who was in the courtroom – of “making publicity” for the case against 47-year-old Brueckner, despite not having produced or shared any files.

Also today, Brueckner will be confronted in court by a key witness who will tell prosecutors that the convicted pedophile was an ‘expert in lockpicking’.

Breuckner was sensationally named by German police four years ago as the man responsible for Madeleine’s ‘kidnapping and murder’.

However, despite the claim, he has still not been charged and is currently on trial in his native Germany, accused of unrelated sex crimes that took place in the same area of ​​the Algarve where the then three-year-old disappeared.

Former friend Helge Busching is the last witness to testify at the court in Braunschweig, where Brueckner arrived early on Wednesday under a heavy police escort.

Last year, Busching told German media that Brueckner was a skilled locksmith and could have easily entered the apartment in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was taken from in May 2007.

He said Brueckner bragged about the burglary toolkit he would use to “break into holiday resorts, hotels and holiday homes to steal from tourists,” Busching told Bild newspaper.

Dressed in his now signature blazer and jacket, Brueckner was brought before the judge in handcuffs and shook hands with his legal team before taking his seat.

Busching, who is under German police witness protection, suggested Brueckner “came through the door” of the McCanns’ holiday apartment, casting doubt on the official theory that Madeleine’s kidnapper had sneaked in through a window.

German police were reportedly ‘electrified’ by the discovery of the lock-pick kit and are also investigating the possibility that Brueckner used car paint solvent to sedate the young girl.

He has denied any involvement in her kidnapping and is currently on trial for raping three women and sexually abusing children between 2000 and 2017 in the Algarve.

Busching, who claims to have met Brueckner a year before Madeleine disappeared, said he found the toolbox in the suspect’s home in the Algarve after he and a friend, Manfred Seyfreth, decided to loot the place.

The petty criminal recalled seeing passports, cameras, suitcases and various items carried by tourists into the property, adding that he “also found a key retrieval set.”

Busching claims he kept the kit – which he says can be used to “pick any lock, including security locks” – and later gave it to police in Germany.

The kit is believed to be made by Dino, which claims its products ‘quickly guarantee easier access to the most restrictive European keyholes’. It reportedly contains 14 black stainless steel picks, each designed for a specific door type.

Police in Portugal have always claimed that Madeleine’s kidnapper entered the apartment through a window. They claim he probably left with the child through a door or by climbing back out the window.

But when asked how Brueckner entered the house, Busching replied, “Through the door.” Easy. He can open any door.”

Busching also claimed that Brueckner once confessed to kidnapping. Madeleine claimed that Brueckner told him, “She didn’t scream.”

Busching claims Brueckner made the confession during the illegal Dragon Festival held in the southern Spanish mountain town of Orgiva, a year after Madeleine disappeared.

He also claimed that Brueckner came to the festival in an American camper van he lived in between early 2007 and 2008. Busching says the van is not the Tiffin Allegro van that police seized a few years ago.

He insists the vehicle Brueckner drove to the festival – known for its techno music, booze and drugs – was a Winnebago and believes if police could track down the van they would find traces of Madeleine’s DNA.

Busching says he knows Brueckner kidnapped Madeleine, adding that “another witness knows too.”

He claims he advised the suspect to be honest, but says Brueckner “will never do that” because he is “too stubborn” and “assumes the police can’t prove anything.”

Busching added that he has been pressured by Brueckner’s lawyers to drop his charges and has been forced into witness protection for the past four years.

Madeleine disappeared from a rented holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007 during a family holiday.

Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, led a high-profile campaign for information about her disappearance.

Phone records show Brueckner was in town the night she disappeared, and his yellow and white Volkswagen Westfalia camper was spotted near the Algarve resort.

Last May, German forensic experts searched a reservoir 48 km from Praia da Luz as part of their ongoing investigation. They allegedly took soil samples for analysis.

Brueckner and Busching, who is also German, both previously lived in Portugal and are said to have been involved in petty theft.

Brueckner has claimed the pair have not spoken since 2007, when they discussed a drug deal, and has denied Busching’s claims about their 2008 conversation, saying they were “not even worthy of comment.”

Busching also claims to have seen videotapes showing Brueckner sexually assaulting an older woman and a teenage girl in Portgual.

In 2019, Brueckner was convicted by a German court of the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in her home in Portugal, near Praia da Luz, and is serving a seven-year prison sentence. Busching reportedly contacted British police about his former friend after he was arrested in Greece in 2017 over an alleged smuggling ring.

Madeleine’s disappearance was initially investigated by police in Portugal, with support from officers in Britain. The Metropolitan Police took over the investigation in 2011 after the Portuguese operation was suspended.

But more than three years after he linked Brueckner to Madeleine’s disappearance, he has still not been charged in her kidnapping because prosecutors lack sufficient evidence.