Alleged stalker ‘is still 50/50 about whether she is Madeleine McCann’

The alleged stalker of Madeleine McCann’s parents has told a jury she is still “50/50” about whether she is their missing daughter.

Polish national Julia Wandelt, 24, told jurors at Leicester Crown Court that she would “walk away” if she saw the full paperwork proving she was not the girl who went missing during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.

Prosecutors allege Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, peddled the myth she is Madeleine while stalking Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address.

During cross-examination on Wednesday, prosecutor Michael Duck KC asked Wandelt: “As we stand here, do you still entertain the belief that you could be Madeleine McCann?”

Wandelt told the court: “It’s neither yes nor no. Because it is very easy to provide me with the documentation, so if I am not her, and it really is negative, I would like to see the documentation.

“Now, I would say I’m 50/50. What’s the issue with providing the whole paperwork?”

Mr Duck asked again: “Do you, Julia Wandelt, believe you may still be Madeleine McCann?”

Wandelt replied: “It will be neither yes nor no. It is not yes, and not no. I am in between.”

Asked what would satisfy her, Wandelt raised her voice and tearfully told the jury: “An investigation into my disappearance, into what happened to me, why am I here?”

Mr Duck asked Wandelt: “If you had seen a negative DNA test result, would you have walked away?”

Wandelt replied: “If I received the entire paperwork, yes, I would walk away.”

The Polish national told the jury she believed Mr McCann was involved in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Asked what this belief was based on, Wandelt said: “Mostly based on memories, also based on the way he came across, not letting Kate tell anything. The memories are the main reason I think that was the case.”

Wandelt recalled a memory to the court of “repeatedly” being told “this is the only way to help your parents”.

She added: “I didn’t want to say the thing that would incriminate him (Mr McCann). I don’t want to say anything bad about them.”

She also told the court that it was “strange” that Madeleine’s case has “huge financial resources”, and suggested it could be “money laundering”.

Wandelt said: “I do not believe they (the McCanns) participate in this because of their own will. I believed that this case, the Madeleine McCann case, received a huge amount of money … I do believe this is because of some money laundering.”

Mr Duck asked Wandelt about a memory she claimed to have of Mrs McCann coming to her room before she was abducted, rubbing her head and saying she would find her.

The prosecutor asked: “Is that, Miss Wandelt, a genuine memory?”

Wandelt said: “Yes.”

Mr Duck asked: “Are you asserting to this jury that Kate McCann knew of the abduction and told you she would find you?”

Wandelt replied: “Yes… I still believe Kate didn’t want it to happen.”

She also told the jury: “They (Mr and Mrs McCann) are not guilty in my point of view, they had no other choice.”

Wandelt also suggested that if Mr and Mrs McCann were related to each other it would explain “mismatches” in their genetic profiles, and suggested that Madeleine’s profile was not created from her DNA.

Mr Duck asked: “Do you accept your DNA bears no resemblance to Madeleine?”

Wandelt replied: “Yes, I understand it.”

The prosecutor said: “Isn’t that the end of this charade? Your story, your fabrication?”

Wandelt said: “It’s not fabrication.”

Mr Duck asked Wandelt about a letter she addressed to Mrs McCann, which said “Dear Mum (Kate)” and was signed off “Madeleine”.

In the letter, the jury heard, Wandelt wrote: “I’m so sorry for causing you so much distress.”

Mr Duck asked: “That’s you apologising for distressing her, isn’t it?”

Wandelt replied: “She said I was causing her distress, I didn’t apologise because I recognise it as distress.”

Asked whether her appearance at the McCanns’ home in December last year was intimidating, Wandelt said: “No, I don’t think it’s intimidating.

“If I was looking for my daughter missing for 18 years, I would be OK speaking with the person saying they were my missing child.”

Wandelt and 61-year-old Karen Spragg, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking between June 2022 and February this year.

The trial continues.