Alleged McCann family stalker claimed to be two other missing girls, court told

An alleged stalker who falsely claimed to be Madeleine McCann has also claimed to be two other missing girls, a jury has been told.

Leicester Crown Court heard that 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.

Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, is on trial with Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, but both deny stalking Kate and Gerry McCann causing serious alarm or distress between June 2022 and February this year.

Prosecutor Michael Duck KC told the jury on Monday: “In the time between 2022 and her arrest in 2025, Julia Wandelt did not limit her claims to be a missing girl to the tragic case of Madeleine McCann.

“By the latter part of February 2023, she had now asserted she was potentially two different missing girls.”

The court heard that Wandelt contacted a charity called Missing Years Ago, which helps with historic missing person cases, in January or February 2023, dates which “coincided with Julia Wandelt’s assertion she was Madeleine McCann”.

Mr Duck said: “The initial contact with the charity was not to contend that she was Madeleine McCann but rather to suggest that she was another missing girl, Inga Gehricke.

“Inga was a young girl who had disappeared in Germany, but as with Madeleine McCann, Julia Wandelt was precluded from being a realistic candidate by virtue of her age and obvious differences.”

On a separate occasion, the jury heard, Wandelt claimed to be another missing girl called Acacia Bishop.

The jury was told that Wandelt called and messaged Mrs McCann’s phone on more than 60 occasions on one day in April last year, which she did not respond to.

In one message, the court heard, Wandelt said she remembered Mrs McCann on the night of Madeleine’s abduction “rubbing my head and said I love you and you would find me”.

A voicemail left on Mrs McCann’s phone was played to the jury in which Wandelt said: “You have nothing to lose, if I’m her then everybody should be okay but if I’m not, as you probably think, then I will leave you alone.

“I know my accent is Polish because I live here, I know I look fat and I know I’m not pretty like Madeleine was in the past, but I know what I know, I know what I remember.

“Please just give me a chance, I’m not a liar, I’m not crazy – I just want to know the truth. Call me or message me or whatever please.”

Mr Duck told the jury: “The refusal to respond by Mrs McCann did not deter Julia Wandelt.”

Wandelt also claimed to have “flashbacks” from hypnosis sessions, including one memory of spoon-feeding Madeleine’s younger brother.

The court heard Wandelt emailed Mr McCann in June 2023 and messaged Madeleine’s younger sister on other occasions saying there were “many things” she could remember, and that she would “never lie”.

The trial will continue on Tuesday morning.