A MET cop today told a court the extraordinary breakthrough moment he took the call-in that “solved” the Madeleine McCann mystery.
DC Mark Draycott told judges in Germany he found a voicemail on May 18, 2017 from a drifter naming monster Christian Brueckner as the man who snatched the toddler.
Dan CharityMaddie McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner arrives at court on Thursday[/caption]
Dan CharityThe paedophile is pictured arriving at court in Braunschweig, Germany[/caption]
Dan CharityThe rape trial of Brueckner was extended by three months[/caption]
AFPMadeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007[/caption]
The cop said: “There was still a public phone number so members of the public could ring in with information in relation to Operation Grange – the Madeleine McCann investigation.
“One of my jobs was to check the answerphone on a daily basis. I checked and there was a message from a male, from the sounds of his voice.”
The cop added: “He said he had information and he left a Greek mobile number.
“I rang the number and spoke to a man I now know to be Helge Busching. He gave information in relation to the Madeleine McCann investigation.”
The Scotland Yard cop told how he travelled to Greece to interview the key witness – before later bringing him to the UK to make a formal statement.
Witness Busching has told previously how during a conversation about Maddie, Brueckner let slip: “She didn’t scream.”
But asked to reveal what evidence cops were given that the rapist snatched and killed Madeleine, the British cop refused to answer.
He said: “I can’t talk about it. I have no approval to take about it.”
The refusal came after Brueckner’s defence team called the witness to court in the hope he would discredit witnesses and reveal crucial details about the ongoing Maddie investigation.
DC Draycott told the court Maddie suspect Brueckner raped an elderly “British” woman on camera – then beat her with a kitchen spatula, while blindfolded with painted goggles.
The officer told Braunschweig Regional Court that Busching was released from prison in Greece on April 12, 2018 then contacted police on May 18 – five weeks later.
DC Draycott also confirmed to the court key witness Busching had received no payment, plea bargain or incentive to give his Maddie statement.
He said: “In my first conversation with Helge Busching, he said he wasn’t interested in a reward.”
The detective has worked on the Met’s £13m Maddie investigation Operation Grange since it was launched on a request from David Cameron in 2011.
Busching called McCann PI Dave Edgar’s information line following a public appeal in 2009 – just two years after the tot vanished – but was not contacted, the court heard today.
DC Draycott said Busching left his Spanish mobile number but “thought he was not being taken seriously”.
A retired cop later issued an appeal for information relating to the “spotty man” – but it was unclear whether this referred to pock-faced Brueckner.
It was not until 2017 that Busching’s claims were taken seriously when he called a Met police hotline, naming Brueckner as the suspected snatcher.
Busching is now considered the man who can pin Maddie’s abduction on convicted rapist and paedophile Brueckner.
Brueckner is accused of a string of rapes and indecent exposure allegations uncovered during the investigation into Maddie.
He denies the claims against him and the trial continues.
Brit tot Madeleine McCann vanished from her family’s Portuguese holiday home in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, on May 3, 2007 as her parents dined at a tapas bar just 120 metres away.
Gerry and Kate had left their three children, including Maddie and toddler twins Sean and Amelie, asleep in the apartment.
Kate returned to check on the kids about 10pm and discovered Maddie was not in her bed, but missing.
Seventeen years on, her whereabouts remains unknown – despite a £13million police investigation.
Maddie would be turning 21 this month.
The prime suspect in the case is 47-year-old German national and convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner.
He is currently serving a prison sentence for raping a woman in Praia da Luz in 2005, and is suspected of further rapes and child sexual abuse committed in the area between 2000 and 2017.
Last month, it was confirmed by a German court that DC Draycott would be called to give evidence in defence of Brueckner.
He was to be brought to Germany as part of a defence bid to pick holes in Busching‘s witness testimony.
The move was designed to help clear rapist Brueckner of current charges, and to discredit Busching ahead of a Maddie trial next year.
Busching claims he saw two rape videos after taking them from Brueckner’s Praia da Luz lair – offences currently being tried.
He was the first person to name Brueckner to police.
The witness’ Maddie evidence is centred on allegations Brueckner told him “she didn’t scream” while discussing the tot in 2008.
Busching, who committed crimes with the convicted rapist in Portugal in the early 2000s, has called the prime snatch suspect “really dangerous”.
He recently said not reporting Brueckner sooner was the “biggest failure” of his life.
Dan CharityChristian Brueckner is the man German police believe abducted Maddie from her family’s holiday flat in Portugal[/caption]
Key dates in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance
MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 – and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearance.
Almost 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates:
May 3, 2007 – Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm
May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is named an “arguido” or formal suspect
August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine
September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”
September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins
October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview
July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of both Robert Murat and the McCanns
May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine’s eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case
April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive
July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance
October 24, 2013– Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found
November 27, 2013 – Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together
October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine’s disappearance
March 11, 2017 – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September
September 28, 2017 – British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe going until March 2018
November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria
May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office
November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
November 2018 – UK police re-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents
June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted
June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers
June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo Christian Brueckner
April 2022 – Brueckner formally made an “arguido”
May 2023 – Police search remote Algarve reservoir Brueckner called his “little paradise”
