Polish woman Julia Wandelt is accused of claiming she was missing Madeleine McCann and stalking the girl’s family. She is on trial alongside Karen Spragg from Cardiff
A woman accused of stalking the family of Madeleine McCann answered no comment to dozens of questions from police.
Jurors at Leicester Crown Court heard Julia Wandelt’s claims in her own words, as the recording of her police interview was played to them. The 24-year-old Polish woman is on trial after claiming to be the missing girl, and is accused of stalking Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann as well as the youngster’s siblings Sean and Amelie.
The trial previously heard details of text messages and voicemails the prosecution say Wandelt left on mum-of-three Kate McCann’s phone. In one she wrote: “Don’t block me, don’t give up on me, don’t reject me.”
Another read: “I cry when I listen to your voice or see you. I don’t understand why you don’t want to see me. You are mummy. You know it’s me. You know I’m not crazy. I remember how you hugged me before the abduction happened. You said you loved me and will find me.”
The court also heard recordings of Wandelt leaving voice messages to Mrs McCann over the period of several months last year, asking in one: “What if I’m her?” Wandelt’s head was down as jurors listened to the recordings while Spragg began crying and had to leave the dock when the recordings were played.
In one message, Wandelt was heard saying: “I know you probably think Madeleine’s dead. Well she is not. I really believe I’m her. Help me. Don’t think Madeleine is dead. This is a chance. Please, I beg you. The police don’t want to help me, they don’t want to help Madeleine. It’s all corrupt. I promise you that I will prove who I am because I know you love Madeleine.”
In another message, she said: “You probably believe Madeleine is not alive any more. What if I’m her? What if there’s a small chance that I’m her?”
Prosecutors allege Wandelt pushed the myth that she was Madeleine, who went missing during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007, while stalking Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry, by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address between June 2022 and February this year.
The court previously heard that Wandelt called and messaged Kate McCann more than 60 times in a single day in April last year, including about her alleged memories of the missing girl’s abduction. On one occasion Mrs McCann received five text messages from Wandelt within seven seconds, the jury was told.
In recent days, jurors heard a profile of Madeleine’s DNA was obtained from a pillowcase in her bedroom in Rothley just days after she vanished in 2007. A second DNA profile was obtained from a neo-natal blood test taken shortly after she was born in 2003. The court was told Wandelt’s DNA was taken from a mouth swab after she was arrested in February.
Forensic scientist Rosalind Hammond told the court she compared the DNA profiles of Madeleine and Wandelt. She told jurors: “The profiles from the two samples are different. Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.” Ms Hammond also compared the DNA profiles of Wandelt and Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry.
She told the court: “The DNA profile of Julia Wandelt shows she is not the biological child of Kate and Gerry McCann and neither is she the biological child of either one.”
Wandelt is accused of stalking Kate and Gerry McCann and is alleged to have attended the family home in Leicestershire. She is also accused of sending a letter, calls, voicemails and WhatsApp messages to Kate and Gerry McCann, and sending Amelie and Sean McCann messages.
Spragg is also charged with one count of stalking. The offences are alleged to have taken place between June 2022 and February 2025. The trial continues.
