Police in Portugal reopen rape investigation after claim against Madeleine McCann suspectHazel Behan thinks her attacker may have been Christian B, the main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Martin Brunt
Crime correspondent @skymartinbrunt
Portuguese police have reopened their investigation into the unsolved rape of an Irish woman after 16 years.
Hazel Behan, 37, believes her attacker may have been drifter Christian B, the main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
He was convicted of a similar rape a year after Ms Behan was attacked and two years before Madeleine vanished.
This week detectives collected their own archived case files from the court in Portimao to see if they could build a case against the suspect.
One problem they will face is that vital forensic evidence with potential DNA was destroyed on the orders of a judge, a common practice in Portuguese cases where no suspect is identified.
A source told Sky News: "Detectives are looking again for new evidence and the investigation is reopened."
Ms Behan was a 20-year-old holiday rep who arrived in Praia da Rocha on the Algarve coast in April 2004.
https://news.sky.com/story/police-in-portugal-reopen-rape-investigation-after-claim-against-madeleine-mccann-suspect-12033629