I lived with fiend Brueckner... he is a danger and capable of anything

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Thomas Hertel and the convicted paedophile were in the same German children’s home a flat-sharing community run by an evangelical welfare charity when they were teenagers in the 90s.

He said Brueckner, who is suspected of snatching and killing Madeleine in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007, made his life hell.

Thomas told how Brueckner, 47, attacked him with a bottle, terrorised staff at the home in Wurzburg and regularly stole from other teens.

The 51-year-old was “speechless” when he heard Brueckner was prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance.

Thomas said he believes Brueckner was capable of committing the crime - and remains scared of him to this day.

The beast is due to be released from prison in September when his seven-year term for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz ends.

Thomas said: “He's a ticking time bomb, a danger. He shouldn't be let out, that would be my wish.”

The pair lived together between 1992 and 1995. Brueckner moved there after leaving his foster family amid allegations of abuse and beatings.

Thomas remembered that Brueckner had two sides to his personality and would fly into a rage without warning.

He recalled: “One side was kind and nice, you could talk to him. But when he flipped out, he flipped out. That was when you saw the other side.

“When something got under his skin, he was so aggressive and unpredictable. You couldn't hold him back.

“I mean, I lash out sometimes. But I was never like Christian.