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An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann has told a court she has “sympathy” for the missing girl’s family and “never” meant any harm.
Julia Wandelt, a 24-year-old Polish national, claimed the McCann family had been “misled” about Madeleine’s case by police, who were still “abusing cases”.
Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, is alleged to have peddled the myth she was Madeleine, while stalking Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, making calls and turning up at their home.
During her evidence at Leicester crown court on Monday, she told jurors: “I actually even have sympathy for them [the McCanns], even though I am in prison for eight months, because they look for their child and I look for my parents.”
Wandelt added that she “can’t imagine” how it feels for them as their daughter’s case remains unsolved. She said: “Three years of finding out my journey and who I am it feels like ages, so actually I can’t imagine …”
Her lawyer, Tom Price KC, asked Wandelt if she disliked the McCanns. She said: “No, I always defended them, I still even now defend them.”
She said she “never” meant any harm to the family.
Wandelt also told her trial she believed the police were “not interested” in finding Madeleine and that she believed the girl’s parents had been “misled” by officers.
Asked why she had contacted Gerry McCann directly, she said: “Because I think they were misled because if the police treated their daughter’s case the way they treated me, I’m not surprised they didn’t find their daughter, and I think they should know because my case is just an example of how police [are] still abusing cases.
“It is 18 years since Madeleine disappeared … the police are not interested in finding Kate and Gerry’s daughter, that is my opinion.”
Wandelt became emotional when talking about her contact with Madeleine’s sister Amelie McCann and the memories she had of her childhood, adding that she had been through “three years of hell” and still did not know who she was.
Wandelt told the stalking trial she had “tried everything”, including contacting Interpol, the Metropolitan police and missing persons charities, before she went to the McCanns.
She told the court: “I did not want to contact Kate and Gerry and the McCann family until I contacted every single person I can.”
Questioned about hate she had received from members of the public, Wandelt said: “There was a bounty on my head … I don’t know if it was a joke but someone did this … I was getting a lot of hate, people wishing I would die.”
Wandelt told the court that she had limited memories of her childhood and “could only remember abuse” after experiences with her step-grandfather. She told the court she had self-harmed and attempted suicide after she was abused by him.
Wandelt said a sketch of a suspect in the Madeleine case looked “quite similar to the person who abused me” and had the same surname, which she said was a “big factor” in her believing she was the girl.
She told the court she had not known how big Madeleine’s story was before she read about the case, and denied claiming to be Madeleine for attention or money.
Asked about her motivation to claim to be Madeleine, she told the court she “could not be able to heal from my trauma if I never fully know who I am”.
Wandelt said she had spoken to her parents many times about taking a DNA test, partly because they look different to her, which they refused. She told the court she still questions her identity.
Wandelt and her co-defendant, Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking between June 2022 and February this year.
Wandelt will continue her evidence on Tuesday.
