Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B ‘suffers broken ribs after being attacked in cell’ ahead of parole hearing
THE Madeleine McCann prime suspect needed hospital treatment after claiming he was attacked in a German court cell.
Convicted rapist and paedophile Christian B, 43, was treated for two broken ribs yesterday, saying he was assaulted as he waited ahead of a parole hearing.
His lawyer Friedrich Fulscher claimed he had been hurt by officials and he would be filing charges - but the court insisted he had ''fallen over''.
Police were said to have been called to the court to deal with the incident and the suspect was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Last night a spokesperson for the court said: ''The exact sequence of events is now the subject of investigation.
"Against this background, we cannot comment on the details.''
Christian B was identified by German police as the man responsible for Madeleine's abduction and murder in May 2007.
Yesterday he was driven from prison in Kiel, two hours south to Braunschweig court where he appeared for a parole hearing in his first public appearance.
He is currently serving 21 months for drug offences but he is eligible for parole on January 6 after serving two thirds of his sentence.
Wearing a white mask he was driven into the back of the court building flanked by two police officers before being escorted into the building for the hearing.
A source at the court said: ''The hearing was to decide on whether he can have parole for the drugs case.
''Technically he can be freed in early January as he has served his time but the prosecution is opposing it because of the outstanding Madeleine McCann investigation.''
Madeleine, three, was taken from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve coast in May 2007.
This year investigators in Germany claimed they had solved the world's most famous missing person's mystery.
They say they have "concrete evidence" she is dead and believe Christian B abducted and murdered her.
He was known to spend time in the area around the resort and was arrested on other matters.
Last December the suspect was also sentenced to seven years in jail for raping a 72-year-old American woman near Praia da Luz two years before Madeleine vanished.
He took his case to the European Court of Justice earlier this year but it was thrown out .
He is expected to serve the full term although his lawyers are appealing the verdict.
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It means he will not be released even if he wins parole in the drugs case.
Last week we revealed German investigators vowed to "fight tooth and nail" to convict Christian B for Madeleine's murder.
It came after Portuguese cops rubbished their investigation and claimed they have no real evidence.
