It was heard in court how Julia Wandelt, 24 – who believed she was Madeleine – called and messaged Kate McCann ’60 times’ in a single day, including about her alleged memories of the girl’s abduction
A court has heard how a Polish woman and a co-accused allegedly stalked the family of Madeleine McCann.
Jurors were told that there was “unequivocal scientific evidence” that Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin in south-west Poland, has no familial link to the McCanns despite her claiming to have memories of the girl’s childhood and disappearance. Leicester Crown Court heard that Wandelt and Karen Spragg, 61, from Caerau, Cardiff, deny a count of stalking causing serious alarm and distress to Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.
Opening the Crown’s case, Mr Duck told the jury of five men and seven women that from June 2022, Wandelt began attempting to persuade “anybody prepared to listen” that she was Madeleine.
‘Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann’
Wandelt started audibly crying and went to the back of the dock when prosecutor Michael Duck KC said on Monday: “Can we at this very early stage in the trial make this position clear – that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
She returned to the dock beside Spragg after a 10-minute break to listen to the rest of hearing. Mr Duck said: “Her contention over the two and a half years that followed (from June, 2022) was therefore that she must have been abducted and taken to Poland where she lived with people who she was erroneously told were her parents.
“You will see and hear occasions upon which she claims to have evolving memories of what actually happened in May 2007. She pursued claims that she was Madeleine McCann and she pursued Madeleine McCann’s parents over a period of time and pursued that myth.”
Mr Duck told jurors: “You will hear unequivocal scientific evidence that Madeleine McCann is the natural daughter of Kate and Gerry McCann and that Julia Wandelt has no familial link to them at all.”
Conspiracy theories
Mr Duck claimed that Wandelt and Spragg have “perpetuated” conspiracy theories.
“Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3 2007. You know she disappeared from an apartment in Praia da Luz on the coast of Portugal. Her disappearance generated worldwide media attention. She was nine days short of her fourth birthday,” he said.
“One of many tragic consequences for Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, has been their constant inability to escape the glare of publicity that came with that tragedy.
“The attention they have received has not always been compassionate, sometimes far from it. There remains a group of individuals who continue to fail to acknowledge their plight and perpetuate conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, these two defendants belong to that latter group.”
‘Called over 60 times in a day’
Mr Duck told jurors that Wandelt was “not deterred” by the refusal of the McCanns to engage with her.
The court heard she obtained Kate’s mobile phone number and began ringing her. He claimed on a single day in April last year, she called and messaged her over 60 times.
‘I know so many things. I can tell you my memories’
Mr Duck said Wandelt sent a message to Madeleine’s sister Amelie in January 2024.
The message, partly read out in court, said: “I know so many things. I can tell you my memories. Please don’t block me. I never lied about anything. I beg you Amelie.
“I remember so many things, the kitchen, the garden, I remember what game I was playing in the garden with you, I know what I was calling you when we were playing. You are my only hope.
“I remember feeding Sean. I remember Kate saying I make more of a mess than my brother. I remember playing ring a ring a roses. Can you take a DNA test? I’ll pay. I need you to believe me Amelie, maybe inside your heart you know.”
‘I know things only Madeleine would know’
Wandelt allegedly wrote to Kate McCann saying: “Hello I’m Julia and I think I’m your daughter Madeleine … I can prove it’s me. I know things that only Madeleine knew and Gerry would know.
“I beg you, you’re my real mother. Give me a chance to prove it. You are mommy, you know it’s me.”
Messages allegedly sent to Kate by Wandelt also included “I never lied, I’m not crazy, please let me prove it” and “I can prove it’s me.”
In a voicemail played to the court, Wandelt allegedly told Kate: “Please try you have nothing to lose. If I’m not then I will leave you alone. Just think about it. I know my accent is Polish because I lived here since I can remember.
“I know I’m fat and not pretty like Madeleine was in the past but I know what I know and I know what I remember. I don’t want money. I just want one call and then I’ll leave you alone. Give me a chance, don’t give up on your daughter. I’m not crazy, I just want to know the truth. You have no reason to reject me.”
‘Wicked proposition’
In another message Wandelt allegedly wrote to Kate McCann: “I remember how you hugged me and a pink teddy bear.
“I remember that you came to the room before the abduction happened and were rubbing my head and said you will find me.” Mr Duck described that passage as a “particularly wicked proposition”.
Madeleine’s disappearance during a family holiday at the age of three in Portugal’s Algarve in 2007 remains unsolved.
The trial continues.