The trial of two women accused of stalking Kate and Gerry McCann has concluded at Leicester Crown Court, with both defendants found not guilty of stalking. Julia Wandelt, 24, was however found guilty of a lesser charge of harassment and sentenced to six months in prison. She was also made subject to a restraining order due to posing a 'significant risk of the harassment of the McCanns in future'.
During the trial, the court heard that Wandelt had repeatedly claimed to be Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, aged three. Despite claiming a 'nearly 70% DNA match', forensic scientist Rosalyn Hammond told the court there was 'not a match' between Wandelt's DNA and a control sample from Madeleine's pillowcase. The results 'strongly favour the proposition Julia Wandelt is not the biological child of the person who left the floor DNA profile', conclusively proving she is not Madeleine McCann.
The court was told that Wandelt called and messaged Kate McCann up to 60 times in a single day in April last year, including messages about memories she claimed to have of the abduction. In one message, she wrote: 'I cry when I hear your voice. I feel this connection, I don't know how to explain it.' On another occasion, Mrs McCann received five text messages within seven seconds.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, senior investigating officer for Operation Grange, told jurors that the investigation has received over 22,000 emails and currently has 42,000 documents. He revealed that 12 people have contacted police claiming or believing they are Madeleine, but all were ruled out after comparing photographs or other details.
Wandelt had previously told a missing persons charity she believed she was two other missing girls, including a German girl who disappeared in 2015 and a US girl who went missing in 2003. Co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, was found not guilty of stalking.
