‘I was raped by Maddie suspect’
Trial hears of woman’s ordeal
In 2020, I saw a photo of him, the same eyes. I felt sick
HAZEL BEHAN, 40, ON RECOGNISING BRUECKNER
A FORMER holiday rep told a court she was raped at knifepoint by Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner.
Hazel Behan, 40, was working in an Algarve resort when a man burst into her apartment in June 2004.
But she says she was branded a “slut” and laughed at by Portuguese police, who were worried it would harm the tourist trade.
Years later, in 2020, mum-of-three Hazel recognised Brueckner in a photo after he was identified as the prime suspect in Madeleine’s 2007 disappearance.
She told a German court yesterday: “When he raped me, he was wearing a mask. The only thing you could see were his eyes. They were piercing.
“In 2020, I saw a photo of him, the same eyes. I felt sick. I vomited. That’s how I know who it is.”
Hazel, who waived her right to anonymity, gave evidence in Braunschweig, where Brueckner is accused of her rape and other sex crimes.
On the night of the rape, she had argued with her boyfriend in a local bar and returned to her ground-floor apartment alone before falling asleep.
Hazel, an administrator from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland, said: “The next thing I remember was being woken up by someone calling my name. I thought it was my boyfriend but he had no key...
“And then came a fear that I can never, ever put into words.
“I saw a man dressed fully in black from head to toe.”
Hazel described in graphic detail how her attacker – who allegedly spoke with a German accent – raped her three times. When she gave a statement to police in the town of Portimao, she said: “They said it would be best if I went home because this ‘would ruin tourism in the area’.”
She said the rape had destroyed her life, adding: “I was carefree. I had the best job, I was living the dream. Then, all of a sudden, everything went.”
Hazel is still on medication to treat panic attacks. “It’s just become part of my every day,” she sobbed.
Brueckner, 48, denies three rapes and two sexual assaults in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
He also denies any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine, who was three when she vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz.
Hazel’s evidence continues today.