A former friend of the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has told a German court that it is "entirely plausible" he abducted the child.
Convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner is on trial in Germany for an alleged series of unrelated sexual offences against five women and young girls.
The 47-year-old has not been charged in her case and Brueckner has repeatedly protested his innocence.
However, prosecutors believe he also kidnapped Madeleine, who was three at the time, from her parents’ holiday apartment on the Algarve in 2007.
Christian Brueckner has not been charged in her case
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Christian Post, a former acquaintance of Brueckner, testified against him in the trial at Braunschweig regional court on Thursday.
The 56-year-old who now lives in Cambodia had previously told the press he was "100 per cent certain" that Brueckner was the culprit.
He told the court: "I realised [Brueckner] was interested in forging passports so that he could generate an income.
"And later on, I’m not sure whether it was the same day, he said that during the night he was 'active' in Praia da Luz, and would climb up buildings when the window was open and would then take stuff."
LATEST FROM THE TRIAL OF CHRISTIAN BRUECKNER:
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner
ReutersOn one occasion, Post was also asked to collect three bags from Brueckner’s house and take them to a mutual friend from Portugal while dogsitting for him.
He told the court: "I didn’t see what was in the bags exactly. There were a few T-shirts coming out of two of them, but at the top of one bag there were CDs (sic) and I saw from their labels that they involved anal sex and dogs, so I got rid of them."
One of Brueckner’s defence lawyers, questioned the integrity of Post’s evidence, claiming that German police had initially failed to follow due protocol when interviewing the witness. Philipp Marquort suggested that "subjectivity can come into play, and issues of what you can and cannot remember properly."
Earlier this week, it also emerged that police are searching in Germany for another associate of Brueckner, identified only as Ralph H.
However, a source with knowledge of the matter played down suggestions that Ralph H’s testimony would have any significant impact on the investigation.
At the end of Thursday’s proceedings, the prosecutor told the court that a former prison cellmate of the defendant recalled how Brueckner had privately admitted to having committed two rapes.
One of the victims was a US tourist. The other alleged victim was not identified.
The trial continues in Germany,