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Inside 'fake' Maddie McCann's 'cruel' campaign after telling parents she was missing Brit
Julia Wandelt bombarded Madeleine McCann's parents and siblings with phone calls and messages on WhatsApp and Instagram and even found her dad's work email address to hound him with her false claims
A woman who falsely claimed to be Madeleine McCann was found guilty of harassment on Friday after she conducted a "cruel" campaign against the missing Brit's parents.
Julia Wandelt, 24, gasped as a jury at Leicester Crown Court returned its verdict after seven hours of deliberation.
A trial heard Wandelt "tormented" Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, leaving voicemails and turning up at their home between June 2022 and February this year.
The McCanns said on Friday: "Despite the jury’s guilty verdict of harassment, we take no pleasure in the result. Like most people, we did not want to go through a court process and only wanted the harassment to stop.
“The decision to prosecute was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service, based on the evidence gathered by the police. We hope Ms Wandelt will receive the appropriate care and support she needs and any vulnerability will not be exploited by others."
Who is Julia Wandelt?
Polish national Wandelt made global headlines in 2023 after making a bombshell claim that she was Madeleine McCann, the British girl who vanished aged three while on a family holiday to Portugal in 2007.
Also known as Julia Wendell, Wandelt made the claims in a series of posts on her Instagram profile, which has the account name '@IAmMadeleineMcCann'.
But after an international media frenzy, including an appearance on US talk show Dr Phil, she later apologised and said she 'regretted' the entire ordeal in an interview with the BBC last year.
Why did she think she was Madeleine?
She told the BBC she had been abused as a child and she first started believing she was Madeleine McCann after seeing resemblances between sketches of suspects and her abuser.
Her suspicions were raised when she started to realise her memories from childhood were patchy and there were chunks of time where she couldn't remember much at all.
She says her family dismissed her concerns that she might be adopted and wouldn't answer her questions, which only served to fuel her suspicions. Julia began to wonder whether there was an even more disturbing reason for their defensiveness.
Suspecting she may have been kidnapped, she started searching missing persons websites from her bedroom and came across Madeleine's case and thought she recognised one of the main suspects.
She became convinced she was Madeleine because they both had a coloboma of the iris - a rare eye and distinctive abnormality that affects one in every 10,000 babies.
What was she found guilty of?
Police surrounded Wandelt moments after her plane touched down at Bristol Airport and arrested her on suspicion of stalking and harassing Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann earlier this year.
On Friday, a jury unanimously decided Wandelt was not guilty of stalking, but guilty of harassment. Her co-accused, Karen Spragg, was found not guilty of stalking or harassment.
Wandelt was freed as the maximum sentence for harassment is six months’ imprisonment and she has already spent longer than that on remand for the trial.
What did she do?
Wandelt was accused of "tormenting the McCanns over a period of time", which included a visit to their home. Doorbell footage released after Friday's verdict shows the chilling moment she turned up at the family's home.
It shows Wandelt walking back and forth across the front of the McCann family home. Kate McCann can be heard saying: “You’re causing us a lot of distress.”
The following day, the couple received a sinister letter addressed “Dear Mum (Kate)” and signed “Lots of love, Madeleine”. Wandelt referred to Mrs McCann as “mummy” and said “you are my real mother” in other messages sent to her phone, the trial heard.
She contacted 23 different organisations in the UK, Poland, and Portugal, including police and Interpol, missing persons charities and the Find Madeleine website. Wandelt then began to investigate ways of contacting the McCann family, the trial heard.
She allegedly also rang the switchboard of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, claiming to be Madeleine, and asked to be put through to Glenfield Hospital, where Mr and Mrs McCann worked.
The court heard that, in January 2023, Wandelt got in touch with a Polish charity that helps with historical missing persons cases. She first said she was a missing German girl, called Inga Gehricke, then Acacia Bishop - a baby from Utah in the US - and finally that she was Madeleine.
Daily Star psychic was right
Prosecutors presented "unequivocal scientific evidence" from a forensic expert that shows Wandelt, who was born Poland two years before Madeleine, does not match the missing Brit's DNA profile and has no familial link to the McCanns.
Results of a DNA test - taken by Wandelt after she was arrested at Bristol Airport in February - "conclusively proved" she is not Madeleine, jurors heard.
After Wandelt's wild claims went viral, the Daily Star asked German clairvoyant Michael Schneider, who has helped police track down missing people in the past, whether she was really Madeleine McCann.
He told us: "My very clear and 100% certain inspiration on this case is: of course she's not Madeleine, she just wants publici
Deported?
Wandelt will leave prison, but she was given a restraining order against the McCann family. Her phones will be forfeited and destroyed as part of her restraining order.
The court was also told Wandelt is likely to be deported following the conclusion of her trial. Mrs Justice Cutt also issued a restraining order against her co-accused Spragg, which bans her from contacting the McCanns for five years.
Madeleine's 2007 disappearance during a holiday at a resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, remains unsolved. Her parents urged anyone with information to contact the police. Email Operation.grange@met.police.uk with any information.
Daily Star Sunday
Julia Wandelt bombarded Madeleine McCann's parents and siblings with phone calls and messages on WhatsApp and Instagram and even found her dad's work email address to hound him with her false claims
A woman who falsely claimed to be Madeleine McCann was found guilty of harassment on Friday after she conducted a "cruel" campaign against the missing Brit's parents.
Julia Wandelt, 24, gasped as a jury at Leicester Crown Court returned its verdict after seven hours of deliberation.
A trial heard Wandelt "tormented" Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, leaving voicemails and turning up at their home between June 2022 and February this year.
The McCanns said on Friday: "Despite the jury’s guilty verdict of harassment, we take no pleasure in the result. Like most people, we did not want to go through a court process and only wanted the harassment to stop.
“The decision to prosecute was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service, based on the evidence gathered by the police. We hope Ms Wandelt will receive the appropriate care and support she needs and any vulnerability will not be exploited by others."
Who is Julia Wandelt?
Polish national Wandelt made global headlines in 2023 after making a bombshell claim that she was Madeleine McCann, the British girl who vanished aged three while on a family holiday to Portugal in 2007.
Also known as Julia Wendell, Wandelt made the claims in a series of posts on her Instagram profile, which has the account name '@IAmMadeleineMcCann'.
But after an international media frenzy, including an appearance on US talk show Dr Phil, she later apologised and said she 'regretted' the entire ordeal in an interview with the BBC last year.
Why did she think she was Madeleine?
She told the BBC she had been abused as a child and she first started believing she was Madeleine McCann after seeing resemblances between sketches of suspects and her abuser.
Her suspicions were raised when she started to realise her memories from childhood were patchy and there were chunks of time where she couldn't remember much at all.
She says her family dismissed her concerns that she might be adopted and wouldn't answer her questions, which only served to fuel her suspicions. Julia began to wonder whether there was an even more disturbing reason for their defensiveness.
Suspecting she may have been kidnapped, she started searching missing persons websites from her bedroom and came across Madeleine's case and thought she recognised one of the main suspects.
She became convinced she was Madeleine because they both had a coloboma of the iris - a rare eye and distinctive abnormality that affects one in every 10,000 babies.
What was she found guilty of?
Police surrounded Wandelt moments after her plane touched down at Bristol Airport and arrested her on suspicion of stalking and harassing Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann earlier this year.
On Friday, a jury unanimously decided Wandelt was not guilty of stalking, but guilty of harassment. Her co-accused, Karen Spragg, was found not guilty of stalking or harassment.
Wandelt was freed as the maximum sentence for harassment is six months’ imprisonment and she has already spent longer than that on remand for the trial.
What did she do?
Wandelt was accused of "tormenting the McCanns over a period of time", which included a visit to their home. Doorbell footage released after Friday's verdict shows the chilling moment she turned up at the family's home.
It shows Wandelt walking back and forth across the front of the McCann family home. Kate McCann can be heard saying: “You’re causing us a lot of distress.”
The following day, the couple received a sinister letter addressed “Dear Mum (Kate)” and signed “Lots of love, Madeleine”. Wandelt referred to Mrs McCann as “mummy” and said “you are my real mother” in other messages sent to her phone, the trial heard.
She contacted 23 different organisations in the UK, Poland, and Portugal, including police and Interpol, missing persons charities and the Find Madeleine website. Wandelt then began to investigate ways of contacting the McCann family, the trial heard.
She allegedly also rang the switchboard of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, claiming to be Madeleine, and asked to be put through to Glenfield Hospital, where Mr and Mrs McCann worked.
The court heard that, in January 2023, Wandelt got in touch with a Polish charity that helps with historical missing persons cases. She first said she was a missing German girl, called Inga Gehricke, then Acacia Bishop - a baby from Utah in the US - and finally that she was Madeleine.
Daily Star psychic was right
Prosecutors presented "unequivocal scientific evidence" from a forensic expert that shows Wandelt, who was born Poland two years before Madeleine, does not match the missing Brit's DNA profile and has no familial link to the McCanns.
Results of a DNA test - taken by Wandelt after she was arrested at Bristol Airport in February - "conclusively proved" she is not Madeleine, jurors heard.
After Wandelt's wild claims went viral, the Daily Star asked German clairvoyant Michael Schneider, who has helped police track down missing people in the past, whether she was really Madeleine McCann.
He told us: "My very clear and 100% certain inspiration on this case is: of course she's not Madeleine, she just wants publici
Deported?
Wandelt will leave prison, but she was given a restraining order against the McCann family. Her phones will be forfeited and destroyed as part of her restraining order.
The court was also told Wandelt is likely to be deported following the conclusion of her trial. Mrs Justice Cutt also issued a restraining order against her co-accused Spragg, which bans her from contacting the McCanns for five years.
Madeleine's 2007 disappearance during a holiday at a resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, remains unsolved. Her parents urged anyone with information to contact the police. Email Operation.grange@met.police.uk with any information.
Daily Star Sunday