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 allegedly raped by Madeleine McCann believes Christian Brueckner will be kept under police protection ahead of his trial for sexual assault next year, MailOnline can reveal.

German prosecutors confirmed last night that 46-year-old Brueckner will finally stand trial on February 16 for five sex crimes, three of which involve minors.

One of the three victims Brueckner is accused of raping is Irishwoman Hazel Behan, who was just 20 when she was brutally attacked by “a German man with piercing blue eyes” during a four-hour ordeal in Portugal in 2004.

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

The alleged victim, who was raped at knifepoint, was told she will be ‘carefully guarded’ due to fears for her safety ahead of the trial – with police advising that even her husband should not accompany her to court will be able to come.

“They came to Dublin and we spent a day going through all the logistics,” she said.

‘They are advanced and extremely organized and are not taking any chances with my safety.

‘No one is allowed to come near me. Even my husband can’t 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’s spoke out last month about fears the pedophile would return to take revenge on her after revealing she knew him as a teenager when he was part of a gang in Wurzburg, Germany.

In Ms Behan’s case, potential evidence was illegally destroyed in Portimao in 2004, without explanation, within two years of the alleged crime.

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

“The court will have translators in several languages ​​and will be fully prepared.

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

Brueckner is accused of five offenses between 2000 and 2017, when he was traveling between his native Germany and Portugal.

In addition to Ms Behan’s alleged attack, 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 unknown teenager and an older woman in her 60s.

Brueckner also faces two additional charges related to child abuse, 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 girl’s brother witnessed the attacker, and her parents identified him as Brueckner.

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

Fortunately, an off-duty female officer was nearby and was able to detain him before discovering that there was a European arrest warrant out for Brueckner.

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

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

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

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

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

Prosecutor Wolters has dismissed the official complaint about Busching, a former acquaintance of the German sex offender, to whom he allegedly confessed to the kidnapping of Maddie in 2008.

“It won’t be a problem at all, don’t worry. I spoke to Helge yesterday and it is just an attempt to portray him in a bad way,” said Wolters.

“We understand the problem and he will be fine.”

When Wolters announced the date of the trial yesterday, he said: “It starts on February 16, a Friday and a half, but there should be enough time to hear all the charges,” prosecutor Wolters revealed.

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

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

‘There will be four to five judges, two of whom will be lay judges, normal people who are called in for these types of cases.’

Wolters also confirmed that the investigation into the Maddie case is “broadly continuing” and he expects a trial date for the kidnapping to be set “soon.”

“It is certainly ongoing and I am deeply involved, but the focus now is on the trial in February,” he added.

Brueckner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, has consistently denied any attacks and wants Diana Menkes’ rape conviction reopened.