'It's a kick in the gut that he will be able to leave Germany'

THE Irish woman who alleges she was raped by the suspect in the Madeleine McCann case says she was 'shocked' to learn he's free to leave Germany.

- BY PAUL HEALY Crime Correspondent

Last week a German court overturned a decision that had banned convicted rapist Christian Brueckner from being able to leave his native country.

The pervert, who denies the murder of three-year-old British tot Madeleine in Portugal, is now allowed to travel abroad, albeit under strict conditions.

In an exclusive interview with this paper today, Mullingar woman Hazel Behan, who is awaiting an appeal of a German court's decision not to convict Brueckner of her rape, says the decision to allow him to be able to travel was “like a kick in the gut”.

She said: "I think for me personally, I know people would find it hard to understand why him getting out of prison in a different country might upset me but it's when you know so much about somebody and how they lived their life up to a certain point, it scares me for myself obviously, but I'm genuinely (scared) for people in general.

"I think the hardest pill for me to swallow is the German courts removing the sanction put out there that he cannot leave Germany. Now he can. So that to me was a kick in the gut.