Madeleine McCann suspect’s van was CRUSHED by police destroying vital evidence
A VAN owned by German paedophile and chief suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, Christian B, was crushed by police.
The vehicle, that was driven by Christian B just before the youngster vanished, was sold for scrap.
The never-before-mentioned vehicle ended up in an Algarve breaker’s yard after reportedly being seized by Portuguese authorities following the British youngster’s May 2007 disappearance.
Christian B used the Portuguese-plated blue Bedford van with an Austrian pal in April 2006 to steal diesel from two lorries, court files dating from the time of his conviction show.
The files say the vehicle was dismantled after being valued at just £90 by a court seeking payment of a fine linked to the German’s theft conviction.
It ended up being crushed in 2009 according to respected Portuguese daily Expresso, which said it was seized seven months after Maddie vanished in May 2007 although court papers point to it being confiscated before her disappearance and state it was never returned to Chrisitan B.
Today’s stunning revelation about the mystery vehicle will inevitably lead to claims vital clues could have been missed in the hunt for Madeleine McCann’s abductor or other crimes the serial offender could have committed before his April 2006 arrest.
VAN SEIZED IN 2007
The suspect’s diesel theft accomplice has been identified as an Austrian drifter called Michael Tatschl.
The two men were arrested on April 8 2006 by officers from Portugal’s PSP force after being caught stealing fuel from lorries in Portimao a half-hour drive from the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine vanished.
They were freed in December 2006 after eight months in prison.
Christian B vanished from a house he was living at in nearby Barrocal, close to the place where he sold a two-tone VW camper van which has been at the centre of the police appeal, without paying a fine linked to his theft conviction.
Portuguese GNR police officers found the abandoned Bedford van at the property in November 2008 according to Expresso after going to the address because it was the one Christian B had given court officials.
The respected newspaper reported, despite court files identifying the van seizure date as April 2006: “At the Barrocal home, which belonged to another German, material used to steal diesel and the Bedford van was discovered.”
It added: “It will never be known if the vehicle could have contained any clues about the missing British youngster.”
The van is understood to have been taken apart at an unidentified breaker’s yard in May 2009 after the £90 valuation by a court-appointed expert.
There was no suggestion today the battered van had ever been swept by forensic experts before being dismantled as Chrisitan B was not a suspect in the initial Madeleine McCann probe or known to Portuguese police as a sex offender.
“It will never be known if the vehicle could have contained any clues about the missing British youngster.”
Expresso
His only other conviction in Portugal is for disobedience.
Court files show the 1997-made Bedford van was still officially registered to a Portuguese national based in the Algarve town of Monchique.
But its owners in practice were Chrisitan B and jobless ex-carpenter Tatschl who told officials after their diesel theft arrests they had purchased the vehicle two weeks earlier from migrant garage owners.
The revelation about the new vehicle comes after Chrisitan B was linked to another vehicle not flagged up in the new police appeal sparked by German prosecutors’ insistence Madeleine is dead and the convicted rapist is their prime suspect.
It emerged earlier this week children’s clothing including several girls’ swimsuits had been found in a 30ft Tiffin Allegro motor home Chrisitan B is said to have driven between Portugal and Germany.
It was not one of the two vehicles – the two-tone camper van and a Jaguar car – which British police flagged up in their new appeal just over a fortnight ago.
German prosecutors say they have evidence Madeleine is dead and are conducting their case as a murder inquiry. British authorities say their Maddie probe is a missing persons’ inquiry.
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A former ambulance driver identified only as Dieter F, whose daughter Nicole knew Chrisitan B when he lived in Portugal, claimed at the weekend the Madeleine McCann suspect had boasted to him in early 2007 he could transport “drugs and children” in his 30ft-long American-style van.
He told the Mail on Sunday Chrisitan B said to him as he showed off the vehicle: “I can transport children, kids, in this space.
“Drugs and children, you can transport them in this van, it’s a safe space in the van, nobody can find them. Nobody can catch you.”