Portuguese cops told Irishwoman allegedly raped by Madeline McCann suspect they feared ‘impact on tourism'
Hazel Behan accused Christian Brueckner of raping her at her home in Portugal more than 20 years ago.
Portuguese police told an Irish woman allegedly raped by Madeline McCann murder suspect Christian Brueckner, that they feared there would be an impact on tourism in the area.
Hazel Behan accused the German national of sexually assaulting her at her home in Portugal in 2004.
He went on trial in 2020, accused of raping the Dublin woman and a number of other women, but was aquitted.
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, she said after the attack, she noticed cops were following her.
'I started to recognise who they were,' she said.
'I approached them on a number of occasions; they told me I'd be better off going home, that I would destroy the tourism industry in the area.
'That I would bring it down, that my friends essentially might lose their jobs and there'd be no work for them.'
Describing the night of the alleged rape when she was home alone, Hazel said she awoke when she heard someone speaking to her.
'Before I even opened my eyes, there's this fear that is very difficult to describe,' she said.
'Every ounce of blood just rushes to your feet; I was nearly paralysed.
'You're just completely frozen,' she said.
Christian Brueckner was tried in Germany for Ms Behan's rape and was found not guilty on the basis of insufficient evidence (Getty)
She said that she saw a man dressed in all black, wearing a mask and holding a knife, before he raped her three times.
'When I eventually got out of the apartment, I went straight to the reception of the hotel,' she said.
'They called the police and it was very quick, to be fair - lots of male police arrived.
'They were just talking over me in Portuguese and I couldn't quite catch anything that was being said,' she said.
'They were quite insistent that I went back to the apartment, straight away.'
Hazel said that despite wanting to stay away, she returned with them.
Hazel Behan (Steve Humphreys)
Today's News in 90 Seconds - June 12th
'They were in and out, loads of different policemen,' she said.
'They stood me in the doorway of the room of the apartment and I had to strip off in front of them, for them to take photographs of the injuries that I had.
'There was no privacy, there was no female and no one speaking English.
'I really, really didn't want to do it but you're kind of just this shell of a person at that stage.
'I wish I was how I am now then; I didn't have anything left.'
She said she put on fresh clothes, got in an ambulance, and was then taken to hospital alone where medics 'cleaned me up as best they could'.
'I literally had nothing,' she said.
'I had no clothes, I had no phone, no money, no passport - nothing.'
Ms Behan recently criticised the Portuguese police for failing to stop Brueckner from going on to commit further crimes.
'I feel that those who were in a position and mandated a position to protect and serve and do their job didn't,' Behan told The State of Us Podcast hosts Tara Mills and Declan Harvey.
Madeline McCann
'It also places a huge amount of guilt in me because even though I know I couldn't have done anything more… it doesn't stop the guilt that I have.
'If I had shouted louder, that if I had made more of a fuss at the time, all of these things may not have happened to other people,' she confessed.
'I carry that because of them not doing their job, and that really, really upsets me.
'Like to a point that I feel that they need to be called out for that.
'I don't think all these years later I should be doing all, having to go through all this again because of the ineptitude of a police force.'
'There's people like me and other victims who believe they're victims of Christian Bruckner who have suffered as a result.'
Last week German police began fresh searches in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in connection with the disappearance of 3-year-old Madeline McCann.
The search was reportedly prompted by the discovery of disturbing new evidence found on a hard drive hidden in Brueckner's 'secret lair'.
The Sun report that so far cops have removed clothing and bones for further examination, while The Mirror have said that two guns have also been found.
James Manning/PA Wire
In 2020, Brueckner went on trial accused of five separate counts of rape and sexual assault which prosecutors allege he committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
One of these charges related to the alleged rape of Westmeath woman Hazel Behan after he broke into her apartment via the balcony while she was sleeping.
A court heard that she was raped by him in June 2004 while working as a holiday rep in Portugal.
He was acquitted of all charges, but the Irish woman has now lodged an application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) alleging inaction by Portuguese police in identifying and prosecuting Brueckner for her rape.
Cops trying to find evidence of Brueckner's involvement in McCann's disappearance are in a race against time as he is expected to be released from prison in later this year.
The German is serving time behind bars for the rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
Madeline McCann vanished from her family's holiday rental in Praia da Luz two years later in May 2007.
The tot slept in a bedroom with her two younger twin siblings as their parents dined at a nearby restaurant with their friends.
When Madeline's mother, Kate, checked on her children at around 10 pm, Maddie was not there, and the alarm was raised.
The case of the missing girl captivated the world, and continues to do so as no trace of the 3-year-old has ever been found, despite an international manhunt to find her.
No one has ever been charged in connection with her disappearance.
If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact the Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 77 8888.
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