The alleged stalker of Madeleine McCann’s parents, Julia Wandelt, gave evidence at Leicester Crown Court.

Court artist sketch of Julia Wandelt at Leicester Crown Court, where she is accused of stalking Madeleine McCann’s family. (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

An alleged stalker who previously claimed that she was Madeleine McCann has told a jury she is still “50/50” about whether she is the missing child.

Polish national Julia Wandelt is accused of stalking Madeleine McCann’s parents, Kate and Gerry, by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at the family home.

The 24-year-old told jurors at Leicester Crown Court that she would “walk away” if she saw the full paperwork proving she was not the missing child, who disappeared during a family holiday to Portugal.

The crown alleges Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, peddled the myth that she was Madeleine while stalking Kate and Gerry McCann.

‘I would say I’m 50/50’

Madeleine’s whereabouts remain unknown after she disappeared 18 years ago from a hotel room in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007.

During cross-examination on 29 October, 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. It is not yes, and not no. I am in between.” She added: “Now, I would say I’m 50/50.”

Karen Spragg pictured outside Leicester Crown Court. (Alamy)

It is alleged Wandelt carried out a ‘well-planned campaign of harassment’ against the McCanns over three years culminating in a visit to the McCann’s home in Rothley, Leicestershire, to demand a DNA test.

Prosecutors allege Wandelt contacted Madeleine’s younger twin siblings, Amelie and Sean McCann, via social media and even appeared at a vigil on the anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Another woman, Karen Spragg, 61, who ‘adopted her claims with gusto’ from last year onwards, is also charged with stalking.

Previously the court was told police had compared her DNA taken when she was arrested and tested it against a sample from Madeleine’s pillowcase which ‘conclusively’ proved she was not Madeleine.

The court heard that Wandelt contacted Operation Grange, the Metropolitan Police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, before officers then called Wandelt to assure her she was not the missing child.

Wandelt appeared on TV in the US to claim she was Madeleine with Mr Duck saying her appearance on Dr Phil generated “enormous interest” and kept her public profile “very high”.

Gerry and Kate McCann at a press conference in Berlin in 2007 appealing for information about their daughter Madeleine’s disappearance. (AP)

Gerry and Kate McCann at a press conference in Berlin in 2007 appealing for information about their daughter Madeleine’s disappearance. (AP)

Wandelt also claimed to have a memory of Kate 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,” adding: “They (Mr and Mrs McCann) are not guilty in my point of view, they had no other choice.”

Wandelt and Spragg, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking between June 2022 and February this year. The trial continues.

What happened to Madeleine McCann?

Madeleine disappeared in 2007 from a holiday home in Praia da Luz, Portugal, where she was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, who left the then three-year-old and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment.

Her parents were dining nearby on the complex with friends and taking turns to check on all their sleeping children every half an hour.

Madeleine McCann disappeared in Portugal in 2007 when on holiday with her family. (Getty)

Madeleine’s disappearance sparked worldwide attention and remains one of the world’s most famous cases of a missing child. A police investigation, Operation Grange, has been ongoing since then and as of May 2024, had cost £13.2m.

After the disappearance, Portuguese detectives made Madeleine McCann’s parents both “arguidos” – or suspects – in their daughter’s disappearance. That status was eventually lifted and Portuguese police later apologised to the couple.

Christian Brueckner was made a suspect by Portuguese authorities in 2022. (Getty)

In 2020, police revealed a 43-year-old German prisoner, later named as Christian Brueckner, had been identified as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance. In 2022 he was made a suspect by Portuguese authorities.

Later that year was charged with three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse unrelated to Madeleine’s disappearance. He went on trial in February 2024 in Brunswick, Germany but in October was acquitted of all charges.

At the time German prosecutors said the investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance would continue despite the result, though in January a prosecutor reportedly suggested he was unlikely to face any further charges in the foreseeable future.

Kate and Gerry McCann have campaigned consistently for the ongoing search for their daughter. (Getty)