Sky news ‘breaks story’ ahead of suspect’s upcoming trial in Germany
Just as Christian Brückner – the ‘final suspect’ in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann – comes up for trial in Germany for unrelated sexual offences, Sky News has broken a story about a British expat who claims to have alerted police three times to a plot (involving Brückner) to kidnap a child “from a rich family in Praia da Luz”.
Ken Ralphs has told Sky’s crime correspondent Martin Brunt that he told police (in Cumbria) about the plot when he heard Madeleine had gone missing over the news.
He was “on a trip to England” at the time – but because of his knowledge of the plot, he felt he had to pass his information on.
As Ralphs explains, a friend (“who can’t be named for legal reasons”) – and who has since denied that he even knows Ralphs – broke down in tears during a night’s drinking in the Algarve to confess “in the early hours of the morning” that he was “getting involved with Christian to take a child from Praia da Luz from a rich family”.
“Christian” was a man both men knew in the “nomadic community”, Brunt explains to viewers.
Ralphs’ story continues: “I said this is ridiculous. Don’t do this. Why are you getting involved with people like this? You can’t kidnap a child and ask for a ransom. You will end up going to jail.
“He said it’s not about a ransom. It is about selling a child to a German couple who couldn’t have children…”
Sky’s report continues: “A week later Madeleine vanished”.
Ralphs’ contact with police was to give them the location of his friend’s ‘tent’ – the idea being that they would find the man and get the full story.
Ralphs tells Martin Brunt that he put his evidence into a detailed statement, and on his return to Portugal spoke to Portuguese police.
These apparently told him that if he had already made a statement, they would be in touch if they needed to be.
Years passed – and when in 2020 German police named Brückner as their principal suspect, Ralphs immediately got in touch with them, too.
He sent his statement to German prosecutors – the same prosecutors who are bringing Christian Brückner to trial next week for the rape of a young woman in Praia da Rocha in 2004, the sexual abuse of a child on a beach in Faro in 2007 and the sexual abuse of a child in a playground in São Bartolomeu de Messines in 2017).
“It’s difficult to know where Ken Ralphs’ evidence fits in to the Madeleine McCann case”, Martin Brunt says, sitting on a bench with a view of Praia da Luz in the background.
“He certainly had several exchanges with Scotland Yard investigators and the idea that there was a plan to steal a child is backed up by a friend of the suspect”.
Sky’s report then cites Michael Tatschl, “once a close pal of Christian B.” who says his friend “talked about selling children to make money”.
Tatschl told the Telegraph in 2020 “Christian Brückner was my best friend – I’m sure he took Madeleine McCann”.
He also told police when Madeline first went missing about his “sick” and “perverted” friend, “who used to brag about his criminal exploits”. But still there could have been no evidence, as to this day Christian Brückner has not been charged over suspicions that he was involved in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
He has however been charged with the five sexual offences allegedly committed in the Algarve between the years 2000 and 2017.
The trial begins on February 16 in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and could “span for months”, according to the Independent.
Brückner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fülscher – who has always said the case against his client being involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been built from the “worst witness you could get” – has reportedly told the BBC, via an email, that he does not expect his client to make any substantive submissions through his upcoming trial.
“We will see whether the defendant will defend himself in silence or make statements denying individual acts. At the moment, I do not assume that there will be any substantive submissions.
“Whether a defendant declares ‘I have nothing to do with it’, ‘I am innocent’ or the like, or whether he uses his right to remain silent, leads to the same result in criminal proceedings,” explains Fülscher. “So this does not mean that there is something to hide, but is simply due to the fact that it makes sense from a procedural point of view.”
