Madeleine McCann suspect 'confessed to abducting girl from Portuguese apartment,' court hears

25 September 2024, 14:11 | Updated: 25 September 2024, 14:46

Madeleine McCann who vanished in 2007
Madeleine McCann who vanished in 2007. Picture: alamy

By Danielle de Wolfe

A suspect in the Madeleine McCann investigation confessed to abducting a young girl from her Algarve holiday apartment, a former cellmate said.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner is suspected of snatching and killing the three-year-old British youngster in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

Christian Brueckner is on trial in Germany
Christian Brueckner is on trial in Germany. Picture: Alamy

Read More: Madeleine McCann detective hunting Jay Slater breaks silence after ‘deteriorated’ human remains found in search

Read More: Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner 'could walk free in months' - after arrest warrant lifted

Today Brueckner’s former cellmate Laurentiu Codin told a court that the German confessed to abducting a child in Portugal.

Codin, 50, said the 47-year-old made the confession while they were both on remand in the same prison.

He told the hearing: “There was talk of a girl, I don’t know if what he said was true or not. He said that he had a bus and that he had taken her with it.

"He said he kept some of them, but not others, but he never said that he had killed them. We’re talking about girls, not boys. Not all at once, always one at a time. He told me about two. He said that he had taken someone, had sex with her but he didn’t kill her.”

Asked how old his victim was, Codin said: “I don’t want to get it wrong, but it was very young, tiny. I mean young.

"Each time when we were together he spoke about it because he was convinced that I was a paedophile."

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison term for raping an American pensioner in Praia da Luz.

He is standing trial in Germany on unconnected sex crimes allegedly carried out in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.

They include the alleged rape of an Irish tour rep who was attacked in her apartment Praia da Rocha in 2004.

Brueckner is also accused of raping a teenage girl in his Praia da Luz home and raping an elderly woman in her holiday apartment.

He also faces a child sex charge for allegedly exposing himself to a German girl on a beach in Salema in April 2007. His final charge relates to an alleged indecent exposure in front of an 11-year-old in 2017.

He denies the latest charges, as well as having any involvement in the McCann case.

The trial is due to finish in December.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

The plane was forced to make an emergency landing

easyJet flight forced to make emergency landing after pilot collapses on board

Joel Verite was among the first on the scene of the Southport knife attack where three girls were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party.

Southport hero who came face-to-face with Rudakubana as he rushed to save dying girls says it was 'like a horror film'

Labour vows to punish any other MP or minister caught up in Andrew Gwynne WhatsApp group scandal

Labour vows to punish any MP caught up in Andrew Gwynne WhatsApp group scandal

Donald Trump has spoken to Vladimir Putin

Trump confirms he 'spoke to Putin about ending war in Ukraine' as Russian president 'wants to see people stop dying'

displaced Gazans walking toward Gaza City on January 27, 2025, after crossing the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops withdraw from key militarised corridor that splits Gaza in two as part of ceasefire deal

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour in Les Pesquiès, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, on Thursday afternoon.

Mysterious death of British couple in French villa suspected murder-suicide as investigators consider new theories

David Schwimmer has called for Elon Musk to ban Kanye West from X

Friends star David Schwimmer calls for Kanye West to be banned from X over 'hate-filled, ignorant' remarks

The NTSB recovers the debris of a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk involved in a mid-air collision near DCA in Arlington, VA.

All major parts of DC plane and Black Hawk helicopter involved in mid-air collision recovered, investigators confirm

A Thai hostage who was freed from Hamas, Pongsak Thaenna, hugs a relative upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport

'We never gave up hope': Freed Thai hostages in tears of joy as they reunite with families after more than a year

Harry and Meghan at the opening ceremony for the Invictus Games.

Meghan and Prince Harry cheer on Team UK at Invictus Games opening ceremony

Daisy the Labrador.

Stolen dog reunited with family after seven years

Irish boxer John Cooney.

Boxer dies from a brain bleed, from injury during championship fight

'Make Europe Great Again' Rally In Madrid

'Make Europe Great Again': Far-right European political leaders praise Trump at Madrid meeting

Kanye West.

Rapper Kanye West advertises t-shirt featuring a Nazi swastika, after 'antisemitic rampage' on X

Andrew Gwynne.

Minister sacked after posting he hoped 'pensioner who didn’t vote Labour would die' in WhatsApp group

Police officers hold back protesters trying to block the road.

Two arrested as protesters clash with police outside proposed site for new Chinese ‘mega-embassy’ in London