Madeleine McCann has been missing since May 2007

According to Sky News, the convicted criminal was planning on kidnapping a child so he could sell them to a childless couple.

Expat Ken Ralphs told Sky News that Brueckner tried to get his mutual friend to help him find a child to kidnap.

He made the offer to a homeless man who was living on the streets in the Algarve in Portugal.

He reportedly contacted him just a week before the British girl disappeared.

Ralphs told Sky News:

"We were sitting around the fire one night after a meal, we had a few beers and during the early hours of the morning, my friend began to cry.

"I asked him what the matter was and, eventually, he confessed to me he was getting involved with Christian to steal a child from Praia da Luz from a rich family."

He warned his friend against Brueckner and stressed that kidnapping someone for ransom is "ridiculous" but he explained that he wanted to kidnap the child so he could sell them.

"I said you can't get involved in kidnapping a person for ransom, that's ridiculous.

"Then he explained - 'no, it's not like that'. Christian had a customer, a buyer lined up, a German couple who couldn't have children."

He reported the incident to the police, but he never saw his friend of Christian Brueckner again.

Brückner is set to go on trial in February, but the charges are not related to Madeleine McCann’s case.

He is due to be charged with two offences of sexual abuse of children. He is also facing three offences of aggravated rape.

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