Prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Christian Brueckner, is said to have had surgery on his thigh to remove a birthmark following an attack on a woman.
The 47-year-old is on trial for a series of sex offences - unrelated to McCann - in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.
Following an attack on a woman he allegedly held a knife point, Brueckner had a birthmark removed, evidence in court suggests.
The victim described the birthmark to officers who then allegedly found scarring in the spot.
Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner is said to have had surgery on his thigh to remove a birthmark following an attack on a woman
Reuters
It was claimed that the scar was found on an earlier scan of the convicted rapist.
"When Brueckner was examined during his current imprisonment they found a scar where the birthmark should have been," a source told The Sun.
"They then went back through the records and found a body scan of Brueckner done by German investigators.
"Crucially, photos of his entire body were taken and at that time he had a significant birthmark on his left upper thigh at hip level."
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Brueckner is on trial for the rape of a woman in her 70s in her home in the Algarve and the rape and sexual assault of a teenage girl.
He also faces allegations that he raped a young woman, at knifepoint in her home, in 2004 - an act he is accused of recording on video.
The court also heard that he masturbated in front of a girl at a playground in Messines in June 2017 and faces claims he did the same in front of another girl, on Salema beach, Portugal, in April 2007.
The German prisoner remains a prime suspect behind the disappearance of three-year-old McCann.
German prisoner, Brueckner remains a prime suspect behind the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann
PAHe has denied being involved in the abduction in 2007 and has not been charged with any crime related to it.
It was previously claimed that Brueckner had surgery just months after the British toddler went missing.
He is accused of having had surgery to alter his appearance, including a £7,500 procedure to have his jaw reset and four teeth straightened.