Julia Wandelt told a court she was now ‘willing to accept’ she was not Madeleine McCann, but still had childhood memories of the missing girl

A Polish woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann has claimed flashbacks of childhood memories with the family uncovered during hypnosis sessions are “genuine”.

Julia Wandelt, 24, told jurors memories of playing Ring a Ring o’ Roses with Madeleine’s siblings and remembering details of the house they grew up in “came to be true”.

Giving evidence for the first time, she appeared to concede she was not the missing child, after saying she was now “willing to accept” what she had been told by police.

However, she then said she could not deny what she had remembered “if it was true” and had been left still questioning her identity.

Prosecutors allege Ms Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, peddled the myth she was Madeleine, who disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007, while stalking her parents by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address between June 2022 and February this year.

Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in 2007 Credit: PA

Taking the stand for the first time at Leicester Crown Court, Ms Wandelt detailed her abusive past and how she came to question whether she was the child of her parents in Poland.

When asked if she was Julia Wandelt, she replied: “Yes, according to court documents.”

She said that as she grew up in the Polish city of Wrocław, she started to doubt she was the daughter of her parents because of their different physical appearances.

“I don’t believe I am their daughter,” she said.

The court heard she had even asked them to carry out a DNA test to prove they were her parents.

She told Tom Price KC, her lawyer, she still questioned her identity after becoming convinced she was Madeleine.

“I started asking questions because I couldn’t believe there was nothing else in the story of what happened to me,” she said.

Later relaxation hypnosis sessions brought back memories of a childhood with the McCanns, it was heard.

The alleged stalker told Madeleine’s sister Amelie McCann, 20, that she was “my only hope” of showing she was the missing girl, the court heard.

“I’m not going to deny what I remember, they are genuine memories,” she said.

“I’m willing to accept what I was told now. Now I still don’t know who I am.”

Ms Wandelt hit out at the police’s treatment of her since she first reached out to Operation Grange, the ongoing investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.

In June 2022, she emailed the force putting forward eight points as to why she believed she was the missing girl, beginning her email with: “Hello, I’m writing to you because I think I might be Madeleine McCann.”

A sketch of Ms Wandelt, who gave evidence in court for the first time Credit: Elizabeth Cook/PA

She said she was “not surprised” the Met had not found the McCanns’ daughter given how they treated her case.

“If the police treated their daughter’s case the way they treated me, I’m not surprised they didn’t find their daughter,” she told jurors.

“My case is an example of how they deal with missing person cases. The police are not interested in finding Kate and Gerry’s daughter. I still don’t know why they didn’t want to do this DNA test.”

She said she had “sympathy” for the family despite eight months in custody.

Ms Wandelt insisted she had only found out about Madeleine when looking online at missing children she thought she might be, and had not been drawn to it for “publicity”.

“I just wanted to find out who I am,” she said, as she got emotional later in proceedings.

Ms Wandelt and her co-defendant, 61-year-old Karen Spragg, of Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.