Polish co-defendant claimed she was Madeleine, court hears
A WELSH woman is on trial accused of joining a two-year campaign of harassment against the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann.
Karen Spragg, aged 61, from Caerau, Cardiff, is appearing at Leicester Crown Court alongside Julia Wandelt, aged 24, from Lubin, Poland. Both deny a single charge of stalking causing serious alarm or distress to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
Madeleine vanished during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 when she was just three years old. The case remains one of the most widely reported missing-child investigations in the world.
‘I could be your daughter’
Prosecutor Michael Duck KC told the jury that Wandelt had carried out a “well-planned campaign of harassment” over two and a half years, claiming she was Madeleine and repeatedly trying to contact the McCanns.
The court heard that in one email to Gerry McCann, Wandelt wrote: “I could be your daughter. It’s possible I’m her.” She also claimed she had scars in the same places as Madeleine and that people were “trying to cover up the story”.
The McCanns ignored her messages, but she continued to send emails and social-media posts, allegedly attempting to “engage and provoke a response”.
Messages to Madeleine’s sister
Wandelt also contacted Madeleine’s sister Amelie, claiming she had “flashbacks” and “memories of playing in the garden” with her. She asked Amelie not to block her and insisted she was telling the truth, saying the media had made her “look crazy”.
The court heard the Polish woman later obtained Kate McCann’s phone number, which has not changed since Madeleine’s disappearance. Between January 2023 and April 2024 she is said to have made more than 60 attempts to contact the family, including calls, texts, and voicemail messages.
One voicemail left for Kate McCann lasted nearly two minutes. In it, Wandelt said: “I don’t want any money, I just want to talk to you. Don’t give up on your daughter… please call me.”
Cardiff link to case
Prosecutors allege that Karen Spragg, from Caerau, became involved in the harassment campaign by supporting or amplifying Wandelt’s false claims online.
Both women are accused of stalking between June 2022 and February 2025, causing serious alarm or distress to the family.
Opening the case, Mr Duck KC told the jury: “Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann. This is not an issue you are going to have to decide.”
He said the McCann family had already endured “unimaginable trauma” since Madeleine’s disappearance, and that the alleged conduct “added to that suffering”.
The trial continues.
