Chief suspect in Madeline McCann case investigated for 2004 rape of Irish woman

Hazel Behan during an appearance on The Late Late Show in 2015. Picture: RTÉ

The chief suspect in the disappearance of Madeline McCann is being investigated by German prosecutors for the rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan in 2004.

German national Christian Brückner is suspected of raping Ms Behan in her apartment in Praia da Rocha in June 2004.

At the time, Ms Behan was working as a holiday representative in the Algarve. She was 20 years old at the time of the attack.

Ms Behan chose to waive her anonymity to contact police after she recognised Mr Brückner during a video appeal related to the disappearance of Madeline McCann in 2007.

Mr Brückner is currently serving a prison term in the German city of Hanover for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.

Ms Behan told the Guardian newspaper last year that Mr Brückner’s attack on the American woman bore some similarities to her own ordeal.

Police reopened Ms Behan’s case in July of last year.

The location where Ms Behan was attacked and raped, Praia da Rocha, is around 24 km away from Praia da Luz - the location at which he was living at the time of Madeline McCann's disappearance in May 2007.

Mr Brückner had been convicted of a series of offences during the 12 or so years he spent living in the Algarve.

He was first named as a chief suspect in the child’s disappearance last year.