Woman Who Claimed to Be Madeleine McCann Found Guilty of Harassment
A Polish woman who insisted she was missing British toddler Madeleine McCann has been convicted of harassing the child's parents after a dramatic trial at Leicester Crown Court. Julia Wandelt, 24, was found guilty of harassment but cleared of the more serious stalking charge following a five-week trial that heard emotional testimony from Kate and Gerry McCann.
Courtroom Drama and Emotional Testimonies
The jury reached their verdict after more than seven hours of deliberation, during which Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg held hands in the dock. Wandelt gasped audibly when the verdict was announced, while 61-year-old Spragg from Cardiff burst into tears. Both women had denied all charges relating to incidents between June 2022 and February 2025.
The court heard how Wandelt claimed to have memories of being abducted and living with the McCanns as a child, despite DNA evidence proving she is 100% Polish. Her claims included specific details such as feeding Madeleine's younger brother Sean and playing ring-a-ring-a-roses, which she said emerged during hypnosis sessions.
Kate and Gerry McCann gave evidence from behind a curtain to avoid seeing Wandelt directly, though Mrs McCann heard the defendant cry out 'why are you doing this to me?' during proceedings. The couple have been at the centre of conspiracy theories since their three-year-old daughter disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
Persistent Harassment Despite Evidence
Wandelt's activities included sending emails, leaving voicemails and appearing at the McCanns' home. When questioned in court about whether she understood her advances were unwanted, she responded: 'At the end of the day, this is a person looking for their child, so I didn't assume this contact was not wanted.'
Remarkably, Wandelt told the court she remained '50/50' on whether she was actually Madeleine, despite the conclusive DNA test in 2023 that established her Polish heritage. She had previously travelled to the annual vigil marking Madeleine's disappearance and was arrested in early 2025 after flying to the UK.
The charges stated that Wandelt's actions 'had a substantial adverse effect' on the McCann family's daily life, causing significant alarm and distress. The disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine from a Portuguese resort remains one of the most widely reported missing child cases in history and continues to be unsolved.
Karen Spragg was found not guilty of both stalking and harassment charges. The case has highlighted the ongoing impact of the McCann family's tragedy and the distress caused by those who falsely claim connections to the missing girl.
