A former friend of the prime suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann told a German court that he had stolen video tapes of the suspect raping an elderly woman and a teenage girl.
Convicted criminal, Helge Busching gave evidence against Christian Brueckner, who is accused of rape and sexual abuse offences not related to McCann.
Busching claimed he had taken tapes from Brueckner’s home in Portugal in 2006.
The 53-year-old said that he and the suspect had been part of an expat community in Portugal where "no one was innocent" but no one had "done physical harm".
Convicted criminal, Helge Busching gave evidence against Christian Brueckner, who is accused of rape and sexual abuse offences not related to McCann
Reuters
He told the court what he had witnessed on the videos as he described a scene where a masked perpetrator raped an elderly woman while she shouted at him.
Busching said: "My first idea was that it was a sex video. Then I was quite surprised to see Christian. I realised that the woman would never have done that voluntarily."
He alleged that another female victim aged "around 13, 14 or 15" was seen accusing a man addressed as Christian of rape and abduction.
Investigators have not been able to identify the women and nobody has come forward with any allegations.
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Busching said he did not know where the tapes are located now.
"[Brueckner] must be brought to justice and he must be punished. We were not good friends back then and we will certainly never be good friends in the future," Busching added.
The convicted sex offender is on trial for the rape of a woman in her 70s in her home in the Algarve and the rape and sexual assault of a teenage girl.
He also faces allegations that he raped a young woman at knifepoint in her home in 2004 - an act he is accused of recording on video.
Christian Brueckner allegedly admitted to abducting Madeleine McCann to a friend
PAThe court also heard that he masturbated in front of a girl at a playground in Messines in June 2017 and faces claims he did the same in front of another girl, on Salema beach, Portugal, in April 2007.
Busching said: "The fact that I took those damn films with me still annoys me today. That was the biggest mistake of my life."
Christian Brueckner's lawyers say his current trial faces worldwide prejudice following constant allegations he took the toddler in 2007.
It comes as Defence lawyer Atilla Ayak asked judges to remove one of the prosecutors from the case, which is being heard in the city of Braunschweig, Germany.
