Portuguese police told an Irish woman who was raped by a masked man in Praia da Rocha that they were worried about the impact her case would have on tourism.
Years later, Hazel Behan accused the chief suspect in the Madeleine McCann case of raping her, although last year he was acquitted of attacking her.
In 2004, she was 20 years old, living in southern Portugal and working for an Irish travel company looking after the children of holidaymakers.
It was, she told The Pat Kenny Show, “tough, tough work” and a big responsibility.
She lived in accommodation provided to her by her employer and one night, after a fight with her boyfriend, she was walking home alone, “feeling a bit sorry for myself”.
Back in the apartment, she lay down on her bed and fell asleep, awaking only when she heard someone speaking.
As she lived alone, Ms Behan knew this was not a good sign.
“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.”
Ms Behan recalled that the man in front of her was dressed all in black, wearing a mask and he was holding a knife.
He then raped her three times.
Police investigation
“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.”
When they arrived to speak to her, the police spoke little English and Ms Behan struggled to communicate with them.
“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.”
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Despite desperately wanting to stay away from it, Ms Behan returned with them.
“They were in and out, loads of different policemen,” she recalled.
“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.”
Ms Behan did as she was told, put on some new clothes brought to her by her boyfriend and was put into an ambulance, which drove her to the hospital alone.
She was taken to an examination room where they “cleaned me up as best they could”.
Afterwards when she left, there was no one there to look after her. The police had left.
“I literally had nothing,” she said.
“I had no clothes, I had no phone, no money, no passport - nothing.”
Overall, Ms Behan recalls the subsequent investigation as "strange".
When she gave the police a description, including that he was German, it prompted a stern rebuke from officers.
“They told me I wasn’t allowed to say that,” she said.
“I challenged that because I knew he was German and they said, ‘No, you have to say he’s Germanic.’
“I’d never heard of that term before; I said, ‘No, I can’t say something when I don’t understand what it means.’
“That essentially was it.”
Afterwards, Ms Behan soon realised that police were following her as she went about her business in the town.
“I started to recognise who they were,” she said.
“So, 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.”
Madeleine McCann
Years later, during lockdown, Ms Behan was sent a description of the chief suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.
Christian Brückner is a German national, who had lived in Portugal around the time of the British toddler’s disappearance.
He is currently serving a seven year prison term for the rape of an American pensioner.
Fearful that her attacker was Brückner, Ms Behan got in touch with German authorities, who eventually arranged for her to give a statement to Gardaí - which she found “extremely difficult”.
Christian Brueckner. Picture by: Julian Stratenschulte/Pool via AP.Ms Behan describes the next three and a half years as “horrendous”.
“It’s like a drippy tap,” she said.
“You’re literally, drip, drip, drip.”
Eventually, Brückner was charged with multiple acts of sexual violence and she travelled to Germany to testify in the trial.
“He was acquitted on the five cases,” Ms Behan said.
“Not just mine; all of these cases were investigated by the same Portuguese police team, in the same jurisdiction.
“And it’s the same team who would have looked after the Madeline McCann case as well.”
Brueckner has been formally named a suspect in the McCann case but has never been charged.
The Portugeuse Embassy in Ireland has been contacted for comment.
Anyone affected by issues raised in this article can contact the Women's Aid 24h National Freephone Helpline on 1800-341-900.
Main image: Hazel Behan and Pat Kenny. Picture by: Newstalk.
