A Polish woman who falsely claimed to be Madeleine McCann has been found guilty of harassing the missing girl's family and faces deportation. Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin, south-west Poland, conducted an extensive campaign of calls, messages, and visits to the home of Kate and Gerry McCann, Leicester Crown Court heard.
On Friday, jurors returned a guilty verdict for harassment between June 2022 and February 2024, but found her not guilty of stalking. Her co-defendant, Karen Spragg from Cardiff, was acquitted of both charges. Judge Mrs Justice Cutts sentenced Wandelt to six months in prison, which she has already served, and imposed a restraining order, citing a 'significant risk of future harassment'.
The court heard that Wandelt claimed to have memories induced by hypnosis of being abducted and living with the McCanns. She called and messaged Kate McCann over 60 times in one day, and confronted the couple on their driveway in December 2023, begging for a DNA test. A forensic expert confirmed that Wandelt's DNA profile did not match Madeleine's.
Gerry McCann said Wandelt's actions hampered the ongoing inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance. Kate McCann expressed distress over a letter addressed to her as 'mum'. The McCanns said they took no pleasure from the verdict and hoped Wandelt would receive appropriate care.
A deportation order has been served against Wandelt, with the Home Secretary to decide on her custody. The judge accepted evidence of Wandelt's childhood abuse but said it did not justify her behaviour.
