Distressing details have been revealed in court as a young woman and her “supporter” face trial accused of stalking the mother of missing girl Madeleine McCann.
Polish woman Julia Wandelt, 24, and Karen Spragg, 61, have been charged with stalking Kate McCann between June 2022 and February of this year.
It’s alleged Wandelt repeatedly called Mrs McCann over that time period, leaving voicemails claiming to be her missing daughter and demanding a DNA test.
Madeleine was just three when she vanished from a resort in Praia da Luz where her family was holidaying in 2007.
Her disappearance has become one of the highest-profile missing persons cases in history.
On Monday, Leicester Crown Court were played voicemails left by Wandelt, with one recording revealing the moment she claimed her DNA was almost a 70 per cent match to Mrs McCann’s.
“You are my mother, it’s science no one can deny it,” Wandelt can be heard saying.
In another voicemail she claimed little Maddie was still alive, saying “I know you probably think that Madeleine is dead, but she is not”.
“What if there is a small chance that I’m her? What then? Isn’t that important for you? I don’t want money, I have a life here in Poland, I just want to know,” Wandelt said in another voicemail.
“‘Help me. Don’t think Madeleine is dead. This is a chance. Please, I beg you.”
On October 9, 2024 Mrs McCann’s husband Gerry answered one of Wandelt’s calls telling her she had the wrong number, but Wendelt persisted, leaving another voicemail saying “I won’t give up and I will prove my point”.
On one occasion Wandelt and Spragg visited the McCanns’ house without permission, leaving the family very “distressed”.
Mrs McCann told the court the visit happened in the dark and she got “a fright”.
“She called me mum, I think, she was asking for a DNA test, ‘why won’t you do a DNA test?’ and pleading with me,” she said.
“I got a fright anyway. When I realised who it was I felt quite distressed.”
Mrs McCann said she tried to close the door but Wandelt put her hands out in an attempt to stop the door closing.
As Mrs McCann finished answering questions, Wandelt cried out “why are you doing this to me” and was escorted out of the courtroom by officers.
Wandelt and Spragg deny the charges and the trial continues.
News
‘DON’T PRESS PLAY UNLESS YOU HAVE THE WHOLE NIGHT FREE’ — THIS OUTSTANDING CRIME THRILLER HAS VIEWERS HOOKED FROM THE FIRST MINUTE TO THE LAST
Paramount+ has unveiled a first look at the highly anticipated second season of The Crow Girl, the compelling crime drama starring Eve Myles (The Guest, Gone) as DCI Jeanette Kilburn and Katherine Kelly (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, In Flight) as…
‘ONE PUNCH ENDED EVERYTHING’ — TEEN ADMITS ATTACKING 87-YEAR-OLD CROSSING GUARD OUTSIDE SCHOOL, AND THE OUTCOME HAS LEFT A COMMUNITY HEARTBROKEN
A teenager has pleaded guilty to assaulting an elderly crossing guard during a shocking confrontation outside a school. Traffic warden Colin, 87, was seriously injured when he was pushed to the ground at the end of a morning shift in…
‘NO FAMILY SHOULD EVER HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THIS’ — DANIEL TURPIN’S FINAL MOMENTS REVEALED AS LOVED ONES MADE HEROIC RESCUE ATTEMPT
New details about the incredible bravery of Daniel Turpin’s family and their desperate bid to save his life have emerged. Turpin, 35, was mauled by a 4.5m shark while spearfishing with loved ones off Michaelmas Island near Albany in WA’s Great Southern on Saturday….
‘OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN’ — COMMUNITIES ON TWO SIDES OF THE WORLD MOURN YOUNG LAYNA LEAVY AFTER DEVASTATING CANNING VALE TRAGEDY
It was only two years ago that the family of Layna Leavy decided to leave Ireland for a fresh start in Australia. Now their adopted home of Perth, where they were building a new life, and the local community that had…
INSIDE THE NRL TEAM ONCE KNOWN FOR CHAOS, SCANDALS AND CRIME — NEW DETAILS REVEAL THE SH0CKING CULTURE THAT ROCKED AUSTRALIAN SPORT
Rugby league was a different beast in the 1970s and one club stood out for having some of the most infamous criminals Australia has ever seen. Foundation club Newtown officially rebranded from the ‘Bluebags’ to the ‘Jets’ in 1973 to…
‘THEY SHOULD NEVER FORGET WHAT HAPPENED HERE’ — CONTROVERSY ERUPTS OVER WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE SITE OF ONE OF HISTORY’S DEA-DLIEST TRAGEDIES
The arrival of the Americans puzzled Fitz Duke. It was early 1974, and the tiny town of Port Kaituma, deep in the jungle of northern Guyana, was unaccustomed to foreigners beyond the usual miners, and merchants from neighboring Venezuela. Duke,…
End of content
No more pages to load
