A policeman working on the case of missing Madeleine McCann has become the first officer to answer questions in court related to the investigation

(Image: PA)

A Met Police detective has revealed that the case of missing Madeleine McCann was blown wide open when a voicemail was left with officers in Scotland Yard.

Detective Constable Mark Draycott, who was involved in Operation Grange, the investigation into young Madeleine’s 2007 disappearance in Portugal, became the first officer to answer questions about the case.

DC Draycott was called to the stand by the defence team of the convicted paedophile and named suspect in Madeline’s case, Christian Brueckner, RSVP Live reports.

Brueckner’s former friend Helge Busching, who was known to him in the mid-2000s while he was in the Algarve, later tipped Scotland Yard in 2017 by leaving a message on their answering machine that May.

He made the claim that Brueckner told him “she did not scream” when the pair discussed Madeleine’s disappearance.

He said: “Back then we still had a public phone number which was publicised around the world.

“Members of the public could ring in information in relation to Operation Grange, the Madeleine McCann investigation.

“One of my jobs was to check the answer phone messages. On May 18 I checked the answer phone and there was a message.”

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
He continued: “It was from a male by the sound of his voice, he spoke good English and he asked to speak to David Edgar (private investigator). He said he had information and he left a Greek mobile number.

“I then rang this Greek mobile number and spoke to a male I now know to be Helge Lars Busching. He referred to himself as Lars and he gave information in relation to the Madeleine McCann investigation.”

DC Draycott claimed to have passed this information on to German and Portuguese authorities, leading to a probe into Brueckner.

In the days following, DC Draycott was a member of the Scotland Yard team that went to Athens to question Busching, who was released from a Greek jail a few weeks prior, with an interview taking place in a hotel.

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“We spoke to him over two days and he gave us information in relation to the Madeleine McCann case,” DC Draycott revealed. “At that stage, he did not want to give a statement to us.

“However as the line of inquiry continued he was happy to give a statement to British police. He said he had a conversation with Christian at the Orgiva Festival in 2008. That conversation was in relation to Operation Grange. I can’t talk about that.”

When the judge questioned if Busching was given any “promises” by detectives, DC Draycott stated: “We don’t make promises to witnesses. We never pay witnesses for information. We may be able to pay for some expenses and we did pay some expenses.

“We paid €35 for him to get to the coach to Athens to meet us and we gave him expenses to get back to where he lived in Greece. We also booked a cheap hotel for him to stay in Athens.”

Madeleine vanished from a hoiliday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007 (Image: Getty Images)
In February 2018, Busching flew to London to make a formal statement, the Scotland Yard detective said.

“That statement had already been prepared to a certain degree due to the info he had provided,” he shared.

“The statement was taken in English. Busching had the opportunity to go over the statement and he signed a declaration to that effect.

“He had a German interpreter present throughout. That statement was translated into German and also Portuguese and shared with our colleagues in those respective countries.”

However, DC Draycott claimed that Busching was not feeling well when making this statement, but nevertheless was determined to help police investigate Madeleine’s disappearance.

“He complained of not feeling well. He said he had eaten something dodgy,” DC Draycott added.

“But he was happy for the statement to be taken. He was only with us for a matter of a couple of hours. He had travelled a long way and still wanted to help police.”