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Alleged Madeleine McCann family stalker said she never intended to harm them, court hears
Julia Wandelt, 24, denies stalking Kate and Gerry McCann, causing serious alarm or distress and is on trial at Leicester Crown Court. She allegedly told police: "I never wanted to cause them any distress, or make them stressed or sad, never. I just wanted them to take a DNA test."


Martin Brunt
Crime correspondent @skymartinbrunt
Thursday 23 October 2025 16:27, UK

The young woman accused of stalking Madeleine McCann's family said in police interviews she never intended to harm them, a jury has been told.

Julia Wandelt, 24, who the prosecution says believed she could be the missing toddler, allegedly said: "I never wanted to cause them any distress, or make them stressed or sad, never. I just wanted them to take a DNA test."

She was interviewed by detectives three times after her arrest in February this year and answered "no comment" to many questions.

But jurors heard that she was asked how she felt when Madeleine's younger sister Amelie became alarmed after Wandelt contacted her and was worried about what she would do next.


Wandelt allegedly told police: "What could I do next? I was only asking for a DNA test. I'm the victim here.

"They don't care. They don't care about Madeleine, they don't care about me. They only care about themselves.

"I would never do anything bad to them. I would never hurt them."

Wandelt listened to her interview transcripts being read out as she sat in a room at the jail where she is being held in custody. Occasionally, she walked away and then returned.


In her police interviews, jurors were told that Spragg said she had met Wandelt on social media and treated her as a daughter, trying to help her persuade the McCanns to take a DNA test.

"Julia's a grown adult, I couldn't stop her," she told police. She believed Wandelt had good evidence that she was Madeleine.

Julia Wandelt (left) and Karen Spragg at Leicester Crown Court on a previous occasion. Pic: Elizabeth Cook/PA
Image:
Julia Wandelt (left) and Karen Spragg at Leicester Crown Court on a previous occasion. Pic: Elizabeth Cook/PA
Spragg allegedly told police she had texted Madeleine's parents on Wandelt's behalf and accompanied her on a trip to confront the couple outside their home in Leicestershire.

Police asked her in the interview why she thought Gerry McCann hadn't wanted to speak to Wandelt.

She allegedly replied: "They know what they did to her. They arranged the kidnapping and abduction."

The trial at Leicester Crown Court continues.

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Just another crazy [ censored word ]y,  Julia Wandelt and her barmy sidekick are the depressing product of every McCann hate site there ever was.

I think the media have lost interest now that the star turns have given their evidence.  Not much to report today.

According to the court testimony from the DNA expert today the “floor” sample of DNA taken from Apartment 5A (presumably taken from the tiles where Madeleine allegedly bled out following her lethal fall from the sofa / murderous attack by parents, delete according to your preferred conspiracy theory) belonged to a male.  Did we know this already?  I forget…

Yes, I think so.  Was it not the Tiler who hacked up the tiles and cut himself in the process?  Anyway, it wasn't Gerry's of any others of The Tapas lot.

It is difficult to say with certainty, but I would say that it is reasonable to try.  Although it is difficult to say (given the limited amount of information available publicly) DNA testing, probably of the Y chromosome, was highly probative in the Andrew Malkinson case, which was almost exactly contemporaneous with the present one.

OK, thanks Chris.

Butler

That's the one.  Such a long time ago now.