Christian Brueckner’s release from prison – and presence in a city in northern Germany – has gripped families, who fear it is unsafe to take their children to the park
Families in the city in which Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner is now living after his release from jail say they fear for their safety.
Residents in the city he has moved to in northern Germany insist they have spotted Brueckner, a convicted rapist who was allowed out of custody earlier this month after his seven-year jail term for raping a pensioner came to an end. One woman called the police when she saw the 48-year-old man in the city – but this is now his home after prosecutors failed to charge him over Madeleine’s disappearance, which he denies any involvement in.
One resident, Hilke Reichhardt, 63, said: “I’m afraid; I’m full of fear. When you think of what this man has done – to women, for example – then it really does worry me very much. Many people are really frightened… it’s really not OK.”
Mario Baum, a 46-year-old teacher, said: “I think he’s a sick person, and I would prefer it if he were locked up permanently in an institution. He has an ankle tag, but the thing is, that doesn’t show you what is in his mind.”
But Brueckner served his time at Sehnde prison, near Hanover, for the 2005 rape of an American pensioner in Portugal and, since his release, his every move has been monitored by both German and international media. Photographs have been published of him tucking into a burger outside a motorway McDonald’s.
Chilling CCTV footage from inside a mobile phone shop in the city appeared to show him laughing as he showed off his ankle tag, which enables police to track him round the clock, and attempting to buy an untraceable phone using his German ID card. A source has since argued the man did not request an untraceable phone.
But people in the city are still concerned. Kenan Yilmaz says his eight-year-old daughter is afraid. The 54-year-old restaurateur told the Daily Mail: “Her friends at school yesterday were all talking about it and getting worried.”
Lea Rauschan, 21, an office worker in the city, told the publication: “It’s pretty scary that this man is just walking around. He’s clearly dangerous based on his convictions. I’m a young woman and it does scare me.”
Residents have started a petition to get Brueckner out and, earlier this week, an emergency meeting was held at a civic building, with attendees calling for protests and vigils to bring the community together. A demonstration is planned for October 4.
But Philipp Marquort, part of his defence team, is standing firm. In a short statement, he said: “My client deserves to be left alone. He’s served his sentence.” It is understood the plan is to move Brueckner to another, larger city, at the next opportunity. According to a source close to his legal team, reports of him attending a nightclub or begging for free pizza are all untrue.