Gerry McCann has told a stalking trial how his family is still holding out with a “glimmer” of hope that Madeleine will be found alive and so false claims “pull your heartstrings”
Gerry McCann says people claiming to be Madeleine “pulls your heartstrings” as the family still has a “glimmer” of hope that she will be found alive, a stalking trial heard.
Prosecutors allege Julia Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, peddled the myth that she was Madeleine – who went missing in Portugal in 2007 – while stalking the missing girl’s parents by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address. She along with co-accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, deny a count of stalking causing serious alarm and distress to Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.
Both Mr and Mrs McCann gave evidence in front of a jury at Leicester Crown Court about the impact Wandelt’s false claims that she was their missing daughter has had on them.
During his evidence Gerry said: “Well, we know she’s not our daughter. It has many effects – we don’t know what happened to Madeleine. There’s no evidence to say she’s dead.
“We really hope, and we know it’s only a glimmer, that Madeleine is alive. When so many people claim to be our missing daughter, it inevitably pulls your heartstrings, but there is a wider effect that is more damaging.”
Mr McCann also said there were people that “crazily” believe conspiracy theories, including that he and his wife Kate do not want to find their missing daughter. He added: “That’s detrimental to any existing investigation and obviously we have always put that (the inquiry) first.”
On taking the stand he told the jury that after being shown a photograph of Wandelt, he was “very confident” that she was not Madeleine. He said an officer from Operation Grange told him they were “pretty confident” that Wandelt was not the missing girl but asked Mr McCann and his wife Kate to look at it. Mr McCann said: “I was very confident looking at the picture, it was not Madeleine.”
Meanwhile, when asked about the personal impact of the alleged stalking over the last two-and-a-half years, Mrs McCann said her level of “stress and anxiety” had increased but she felt “more relaxed” after being told Wandelt was arrested at Bristol Airport on February 19 this year.
Mrs McCann said: “I feel like it has escalated, the level of stress and anxiety it’s caused me has increased over that time. I would say it’s only since February 19 you notice a change, you actually feel more relaxed.”
The trial continues.