Madeleine McCann’s mum Kate told a court she was ‘distressed’ when two ‘stalkers’ confronted at her family home – claiming they tried to stop her getting inside and closing her door
Kate McCann told a court she was left “frightened” after she was accosted by two “stalkers” outside her family home.
The mum of Madeleine McCann has given evidence at the trial of two women accused of stalking her family, with one – Julia Wandelt – said to have claimed she was the missing girl. Jurors were told how Wandelt, 24, and Karen Spragg, 61, confronted Kate and Gerry outside their home in December last year. Kate told the court she first became aware of Wandelt around three years ago, when she called the hospital where Madeleine’s parents work.
Kate, shielded from the dock and public area of the court by a curtain, told jurors of the “distressing” visit at the family home and how the encounter with the two women made her feel “invaded”. Earlier she told the trial that when she had first seen a photograph of Polish national Wandelt “it was clear it was not Madeleine”.
READ MORE: Julia Wandelt trial LIVE: Kate McCann tells of ‘fright’ and ‘distress’ as ‘stalker confronted her at home’
Asked about the encounter at her home, Kate said: “I remember it was the weekend of really bad gales. I was getting stuff out of the boot and I heard someone call Kate. I knew it was someone behind me but didn’t know who it was. I got a fright. I had no idea who it was.”
Kate told the court this was the first time she had seen Wandelt in person. Madeleine’s mum added: “I had a momentary kind of ‘who is it?’, because there were two women, and finally I realised it was Julia. I had seen a photo of her in the past, plus I guess she was quite vivid in my mind because of all the communications that had gone on before.
“She was saying the usual stuff, ‘I’m your daughter’. She called me mum. She was asking for a DNA test, pleading with me. I got a fright anyway and when I realised who it was I was quite distressed. I was on edge anyway, and it bubbled up. I felt quite invaded, in my home.
“The other lady was slightly more aggressive. She was a bit more kind of ‘don’t you want to find your daughter?’ I asked them to leave I told them I was in distress and they could not be on our property and asked them to leave.
“They followed me, I was trying to close the door, Julia was kind of putting her hands out to try to stop me closing the door. I then closed the door and locked it. They kept banging on the door.”
Polish national Wandelt is on trial accused of stalking the McCanns for over two and a half years while claiming she was the missing girl. She is on trial alongside co-accused Karen Spragg, from Cardiff, who has been accused of one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, after she allegedly made calls, sent letters and visited the McCann’s home address.
The court also saw Wandelt sob in court as Kate denied the 24-year-old was her missing daughter. When asked if she considered taking the DNA test that Wandelt requested, Kate replied: “Well, no. If I’m honest, the persistence of Julia’s behaviour, It started getting to me.
“In some ways I wanted to take a DNA test just to put it to bed, even though having seen the photograph I knew it was not her.” Wandelt then started crying in the dock. The trial continues.