Alleged Madeleine McCann family stalker said she never intended to harm them, court hears

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.

Madeleine McCann was nearly four when she vanished from the family's rented holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.

Wandelt and Karen Spragg, 61, who the prosecution says was Wandelt's supporter, deny stalking the McCanns.

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.

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.

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

The trial at Leicester Crown Court continues.

(c) Sky News 2025: Alleged Madeleine McCann family stalker said she never intended to harm them, court hears