The trial of two women accused of stalking Madeleine McCann’s family continues at Leicester Crown Court. Madeleine’s sister Amelie has told the court how one of the defendants – who claimed to be her missing sister – sent her “distressing” messages. Catch up on the evidence so far below.
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Thanks for following our live coverage
Thanks for following our live coverage of the stalking trial today.
This morning the jury heard from Amelie McCann, who spoke via videolink from another location, and Sean McCann, whose statement was read out to the courtroom.
Linda McQueen and her daughter, Ellie McQueen, close friends of the McCann family, also gave evidence.
All four witnesses spoke about allegedly receiving messages on social media from Julia Wandelt, the 24-year-old defendant who claimed she was Madeleine McCann. She is on trial with Karen Spragg, 61.
Catch up with some of the evidence we’ve heard over the past two days here:
Amelie McCann describes ‘creepy’ messages received on Facebook
Sky News
Kate McCann recalls ‘final straw’ that led her to contact police
Sky News
Gerry McCann told ‘stalker’: ‘You’re not Madeleine’
Sky News
Court finishes for the day
Linda McQueen has finished giving her evidence.
The jury is told that questioning is over for the day.
The trial will begin again at 10.30am tomorrow.
Witness says messages from defendant were ‘triggering’ and ‘unnerving’
Linda McQueen says she ignored messages sent to her by Julia Wandelt and blocked her profile.
The court is then shown the messages, sent on Facebook by the same “Julia Julia” profile that contacted Ellie McQueen and Amelie McCann.
The messages show Wandelt allegedly asking for McQueen to contact Kate and Gerry McCann on her behalf to run DNA tests, and her insisting that she has childhood memories as Madeleine.
McQueen says the messages were “upsetting” and “very triggering”.
“It does make you feel sorry for her, maybe she was unwell, it’s trying to get to your heart.”
She says the opening of one message, which reads “Hello I know you are Kate’s best friend”, was “unnerving”.
Kate McCann’s ‘lifelong friend’ describes ‘overwhelming’ messages from Wandelt
Linda McQueen says she has known Kate McCann for 55 years. They used to live on the same road in Liverpool and went on holidays as families together.
McQueen and McCann are described as “lifelong friends”.
McQueen says she first became aware of Julia Wandelt in 2023, then more frequently in 2024 when events “gathered momentum” and she became aware of Kate’s “distress”.
Asked to describe the nature of the contact between Wandelt and McCann, McQueen calls it “very persistent contact” and “very overwhelming”.
She says she received a message on Facebook in August 2024 but didn’t become aware of the message until February 2025 as it had been in her spam inbox.
“She wanted to get through to everybody who knew Kate… Kate seemed to be the main target, I felt.”
McQueen says she was prompted to check her spam inbox after being told by her daughter, Ellie McQueen (who the court heard from before the lunch break), that Wandelt had contacted her in the same way.
“I was a bit confused how she’d got through to Ellie. I was shocked, I felt quite upset by that. I feel protective over all of this… then I realised I had them as well.”
At this point, she says she discovered a second message, sent in February 2025.
Wandelt asks to speak to her barrister
Before we can hear the next witness, Julia Wandelt has stood up and asked to speak to her barrister.
He speaks to her briefly and she sits down again.
Linda McQueen is then called and is sworn in.
Court back in session
After the lunch break, court is back in session.
The next witness will be Linda McQueen, another close friend of the McCann family and mother of Ellie McQueen, whose evidence you can catch up on in the post below this one.
What we heard from Ellie McQueen
Before the lunch break, the court heard from Ellie McQueen, a close friend of the McCann family who was also allegedly contacted by Julia Wandelt online.
Here’s what she told the court:
- McQueen said she’s known the McCann family her entire life and described Madeleine McCann as “like a little sister” before her disappearance in 2007;
- She said messages sent to her by Wandelt on Facebook – using a profile named Julia Julia – were “relentless”;
- She said Wandelt seemed “upset and aggravated” and sent her “DNA evidence that she is Maddie”, which were passed on to police;
- The court saw screenshots of apparent messages sent on Facebook from Wandelt to McQueen in which she said she “remembered” a life with the McCann family;
- In other messages, she claimed she had the same “spot in my right eye” and “lots of the same moles” as Madeleine.
Court adjourns for lunch
Ellie McQueen, a longtime friend of the McCann family, has finished giving her evidence.
The court goes on lunch break until around 1.45pm.
Scroll back through this page to catch up on this morning’s proceedings.
Wandelt claimed to have ‘same spot in right eye’ and ‘same moles’ as Madeleine
The court is shown screen recordings of alleged messages received by Ellie McQueen from Julia Wandelt on Facebook.
In them, Wandelt says she “doesn’t care about any money or publicity” and, in another, asks why Kate and Gerry McCann did not turn up to a vigil held for Madeleine in their village, which she attended.
“I know what it looks like, but I flew to England to ask them to do a DNA test,” the message reads.
In other messages, Wandelt says she “remembered” a life with Kate and Gerry McCann and even claimed to have the same “spot in my right eye” and “lots of the same moles” as Madeleine.
Wandelt seemed ‘upset and aggravated’ in messages to McCann family friend
Ellie McQueen says she first received messages from Julia Wandelt on Facebook in June 2024.
She says she found them in a “spam file” and the messages had come from a profile with the name “Julia Julia”.
Wandelt said she wanted McQueen to get in touch with the McCanns: “She seemed to know my mum was very close with Kate.”
“She was trying to send me DNA evidence to say she is Maddie,” McQueen says, adding Wandelt seemed “upset and aggravated”.
McCann family friend tells court defendant’s messages were ‘relentless’
Ellie McQueen says she’s known the McCann family her whole life and says Madeleine was like a “little sister” to her.
In 2007, she travelled with Kate McCann to Portugal shortly after Madeleine’s disappearance.
She says she first became aware of Julia Wandelt on the news.
“With Julia, that became more on our radar because Kate had mentioned it to me and my mum,” she says.
“It became quite relentless. A lot of contact had tried to be made, it was different to the kind of other stuff we would see online.”
Court back in session
After a break, court is back in session.
We’re about to hear evidence from Ellie McQueen, a close friend of the McCann family.
What we heard from Amelie and Sean McCann
With Amelie and Sean McCann’s evidence over, here’s a recap of what we heard from them this morning:
- Addressing the court via videolink from another location, Amelie said she received messages on Facebook and other social media apps from Julia Wandelt;
- The first message, received in January 2024, allegedly read: “Hello… I am this girl who went viral saying she thinks she is Madeleine McCann”;
- Other messages from Wandelt claimed supposed childhood memories with Amelie and Sean, including “games of Ring a Ring o’ Roses”, McCann said;
- Amelie said she also received a letter to her home address with printed pictures of her and Wandelt and said similar images sent to her online were edited “to make me look more like her”;
- She said the impact on her mother, Kate McCann, was profound and that she “was harassed by Julia more than the rest of us”.
After her evidence was complete, the court was read out a statement from Amelie’s twin, Sean:
- He said he received messages from Wandelt on Instagram and immediately blocked her account;
- He said this made him “upset” and made him consider changing his online presence;
- “I did not want anything to do with her,” he said, adding that her actions had caused “a great deal of distress”.
Court pauses for break
With the conclusion of Sean McCann’s statement, the court goes on a short break.
Before Sean’s statement was read in court, we heard from his twin sister Amelie, who gave evidence via videolink from a different location.
Scroll back through this page to catch up on what the jury was told this morning.
‘I did not want anything to do with her’
Sean McCann’s statement is still being read to court, in which he says Julia Wandelt claiming to be his missing sister Madeleine is “upsetting and disrespectful”.
He says that he thought Wandlet might be suffering from a mental health condition, and this “makes me feel guilty for feeling upset”.
But he added: “If she is fully aware she is not Madeleine, then this is very upsetting for me.”
“I do not believe that she is my sister,” he continues, adding that Wandelt’s actions have caused “a great deal of distress”.
“I did not want anything to do with her.”
Statement from Sean McCann read to court
A statement from Sean McCann, the son of Kate and Gerry McCann and Amelie’s twin, is read to the court after his sister completed her evidence.
In it, Sean, 20, says he received messages from Julia Wandelt on Instagram and that he blocked her account on the platform immediately.
He says this made him “upset” and made him think about changing his online presence and removing his last name from his online profiles.
Amelie McCann finishes giving evidence
That is the last question to Amelie McCann, and her evidence comes to an end.
Next, we expect to hear from her twin brother, Sean.
‘It didn’t make any sense to me’
Amelie McCann says she knew immediately that Julia Wandelt was not her missing sister Madeleine, as she claimed to be.
“I just knew it wasn’t her,” she tells the court. “I have a feeling there would be something about her I would maybe recognise.
“She is Polish and has Polish family who are her parents. It didn’t make any sense to me.”
McCann says she’d never received any contact from anyone claiming to be Madeleine before.
Kate McCann ‘harassed by Julia’ more than anyone, Amelie says
Amelie McCann says Julia Wandelt’s alleged actions took the biggest toll on her mother, Kate McCann.
“I think my mum found it the hardest and was harassed by Julia more than the rest of us,” she tells the court.
“I think it definitely took its toll on her. All the time her phone would be going off and it was Julia.”
McCann says it often played with her mother’s emotions when Wandelt would say “I am your daughter”.
Recounting the incident on 7 December 2024, when Wandelt and Karen Spragg allegedly confronted Kate and Gerry McCann at their home, she says her mother was “very stressed and on edge”.
Read more: Kate McCann recalls moment Wandelt turned up at her home
Sky News
On one occasion, McCann says her mother told her: “I can’t even go home any more. I don’t even know where to go.”
She says after the incident there was “a lot more security in place around the house” and that an alarm was set up that could be pressed to alert the police if Wandelt returned.
The court hears it was a form of panic alarm.
Wandelt sent edited images of Amelie McCann to ‘prove she was Madeleine’, court hears
Julia Wandelt printed out pictures of her and of Amelie McCann and sent them to the McCanns’ home address in an attempt to prove she was Madeleine, the court hears.
McCann says Wandelt posted a letter to her house that was addressed to her, in which the 24-year-old said McCann was “her last hope” and tried to persuade her that she was Madeleine.
In another message sent online, McCann says, Wandelt sent two images side by side.
“It made me feel very uncomfortable,” she says.
“She’d clearly edited the pictures to make me look more like her which was disturbing. I didn’t look like that and I knew it had been changed.”
‘I felt guilty – but I knew deep down it wasn’t Madeleine’
Amelie McCann says she didn’t reply to the “persistent” messages from Julia Wandelt and her requests for her mother, Kate McCann, to take a DNA test.
She adds she “didn’t find it persuasive” when Wandelt told her about her “memories” from childhood.
“It makes you feel guilty because she’s quite desperate to connect and reach out to me. I knew deep down it wasn’t Madeleine,” McCann says.
She adds some messages from Wandelt said she would “do whatever is needed” to prove her identity: “It’s a bit scary because you didn’t know what she’ll do next.”
McCann says she became aware her mother had also had contact with Wandelt, at which point she told Kate McCann about the contact she’d also received.
Amelie McCann recalls ‘creepy’ messages from woman claiming to be Madeleine
The court hears from Amelie McCann that it was “distressing” for her to receive messages from Julia Wandelt.
She says she “felt uncomfortable because I didn’t want to receive messages like that” and that Wandelt begged her not to block her profile on Facebook.
“It’s quite disturbing. She’s coming up with these supposed memories even though she’s not Madeleine,” Amelie says.
“It was quite distressing to see the messages. As you can see, it’s a long message and there’s a sound of desperation in her message which puts quite a lot of stress on me.”
She says one message from Wandelt read: “I know how I was calling you when we were playing once, I know what happened.”
Another message claimed memories with her and her twin brother, Sean: “I remember playing Ring a Ring o’ Roses with other kids.”
“It made me feel quite uncomfortable… quite creepy,” McCann says, adding that sometimes messages would arrive on Instagram as well as Facebook.
‘I am the girl who went viral’: Amelie McCann reveals message from ‘stalker’
Amelie McCann is now speaking in more detail about the message sent to her on Facebook in January 2024.
She says it was from a profile named “Julia Julia” and that she soon realised this was the defendant, Julia Wandelt.
The message allegedly read: “Hello… I am this girl who went viral saying she thinks she is Madeleine McCann.”
Another message, the court hears, says Wandelt had hypnosis sessions and “flashbacks”:
“I know so many things,” one message said. “I don’t know if this is the real account for Amelie McCann but I can tell you my memories.”
‘I thought if I ignored the messages, it would be fine’
Amelie McCann says that, at first, she didn’t tell anybody about Julia Wandelt contacting her on Facebook.
“I wasn’t aware of the extent of her contact with my family,” she tells the court.
She says she didn’t know that it would be considered stalking and says she thought that “if I ignored the messages, that would be fine”.
McCann says she “didn’t want to cause additional stress” to her family and that she was “used to ignoring messages”.
Wandelt messaged Amelie McCann on Facebook, court told
The jury is told that Amelie McCann was contacted via Facebook by Julia Wandelt and that, in April 2024, Wandelt sent messages to her asking for her parents to respond to her.
At this point, McCann joins the court via video link from another location and says “hello”, before confirming her identity.
She says she was aware of Wandelt before she contacted her because “it was in the media”.
“I think the police had got in touch with my parents about it,” she says.
McCann confirms that the first contact she received from Wandelt was in January 2024, “where she’d been messaging me on social media”.
Amelie McCann giving evidence
Amelie McCann, 20, has been called to give her evidence.
Doorbell footage from McCanns’ neighbour shown to court
The court is being read a statement from Alex Milton, a neighbour of the McCanns in Rothley, Leicestershire.
He’s speaking about the night of 7 December 2024 when defendants Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg allegedly confronted Kate and Gerry McCann at their home.
Milton says he noticed a woman sitting in a white car when he took his dog for a walk at around 6pm.
He said he saw a woman in the car who he had “not seen before” and that when he retunred for his walk at 6.25pm, the car was still there.
He said he “thought it was strange”, and noticed the car was still there an hour later with the lights turned off.
Footage from Milton’s doorbell is then played to the court. Two figures are seen walking past his door and walking back two minutes later.
An hour and a half later, footage shows one figure then another moving back towards the McCanns’ house, then at 7.50pm they move back away again.
A white car is then seen moving back and forth within the McCanns’ cul-de-sac and leaves the road at 8.37pm.
Court proceedings starting
The jury has been brought into the courtroom.
Both the defendants – Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg – are sitting quietly next to each other, listening to the court proceedings.
The jury is being told that six fingerprints on a letter sent to the McCanns’ house match the fingerprints of Wandelt.
Madeleine’s siblings to give evidence today
Gerry and Kate McCann’s twins, Sean and Amelie, are due to give evidence at Leicester Crown Court today.
During her evidence yesterday, Kate told the jury that Julia Wandelt contacting her daughter Amelie was “the final straw” that prompted her to call the police.
Gerry also became emotional yesterday when he spoke about his children allegedly being contacted by Wandelt.
“I was appalled,” he said. “We had done our best to try to protect Sean and Amelie. Given what has happened to Madeleine, we try to keep them out of the media as much as possible.
“We know they want to be identified as Sean and Amelie McCann, and not missing Madeleine’s brother and sister.
“As a parent, you want to try to protect your children. We know social media can be damaging and there is nasty stuff online about us, so obviously we want to protect them from that.”
What happened in court yesterday?
Kate and Gerry McCann both faced questioning – and their alleged stalkers – at Leicester Crown Court yesterday.
The pair gave evidence from behind a blue curtain to protect their privacy and spoke to their distress and anger at the actions of Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg, who deny the charges against them.
Prosecutors allege Wandelt, from Lubin in Poland, peddled the myth that she was Madeleine McCann while stalking her parents by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address.
Kate said she’d been frightened when Wandelt and Spragg arrived at her home in December 2024 and said the Polish national had been “pleading” and “asking about DNA tests again”.
After Kate concluded the first part of her evidence, Wandelt, 24, had to be escorted from the courtroom after sobbing and shouting, “Why are you doing this to me?”.
Watch Midlands correspondent Lisa Dowd, who was in court yesterday, recap what the jury heard from Kate …
Speaking in the afternoon, Gerry said Wandelt’s claims were difficult to hear personally and they damaged the ongoing investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
“Well, we know she’s not our daughter. It has many effects – we don’t know what happened to Madeleine, there’s no evidence to say she’s dead… When so many people claim to be our missing daughter, it inevitably pulls your heartstrings, but there’s a wider effect that is more damaging.”
Gerry McCann at Leicester Crown Court
Gerry also revealed he once picked up the phone when Wandelt had allegedly called Kate to tell her directly: “You’re not Madeleine, please stop calling.”
The trial continues today with evidence from Madeleine’s siblings, Sean and Amelie.
Welcome back to our live coverage
Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the trial of two women accused of stalking the family of Madeleine McCann.
The missing girl’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, gave evidence yesterday against defendants Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg at Leicester Crown Court.
Today, the jury is due to hear evidence from Gerry and Kate’s 20-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.
During her evidence yesterday, Kate said that Wandelt, who claimed to be Madeleine, contacting Amelie was the “final straw” that led to her to call the police.
We’ll have live updates from Leicester Crown Court here in this page, so stay with us.
We’ll be back tomorrow
Thanks for following our live coverage of the stalking trial today. Scroll back through the page to catch up on the evidence from Kate and Gerry McCann.
We’ll be back here tomorrow with more updates from court, where the jury is due to hear evidence from Gerry and Kate’s twins, Sean and Amelie.
We heard this morning from Kate that a message from the family’s alleged stalker Julia Wandelt, who claimed to be missing Madeleine McCann, to Amelie was the “last straw” that led her to contact the police.
Watch Midlands correspondent Lisa Dowd, who was in court today, recap what the jury heard from Kate McCann this morning…
What we heard from Gerry McCann
With Gerry McCann’s evidence over, here’s a recap of what we heard from him this afternoon:
- McCann said he first became aware of Julia Wandelt in 2023;
- He said he told police he was “very confident” just by looking at a photo of Wandelt that it was not his daughter Madeleine;
- He told the court that Kate McCann’s “would ring and ring and ring with no caller ID” and that this made his wife “obviously very distressed, irritated, irritable, struggling to concentrate”;
- He said on one occasion he answered the phone and said, “You’re not Madeleine”;
- McCann said he was “appalled” that Wandelt had tried to contact his children;
- Recalling the night Wandelt and Karen Spragg turned up at his home, he said the latter “got pretty close to me” and accused him of being a member of the Freemasons;
- The court heard audio of the interaction, in which McCann told the pair: “You’re not Madeleine, please don’t hassle us”;
- He said it “pulls on your heartstrings” when people “claim to be your missing daughter you haven’t seen for this long”;
- He added that it was “damaging in the search for Madeleine”.
Gerry McCann’s evidence ends
That’s the last question to Gerry McCann at Leicester Crown Court this afternoon, bringing his evidence to an end after around 90 minutes.
‘No doubts’ that Wandelt wasn’t Madeleine
Gerry McCann is asked about the decision not to get a DNA test to confirm that Julia Wandelt was not Madeleine.
“There’s three reasons,” McCann said.
“We didn’t believe she was Madeleine, we’d been reassured by the Metropolitan Police following their investigations within Poland she was who her name is.
“Lastly, it’s not our responsibility to do a DNA test, it’s a matter for investigative forces.”
McCann says there was “no doubt” that Wandelt was not Madeleine and the Metropolitan Police had eliminated Wandelt from the inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance in 2023.
Defence questions McCann
Gerry says his wife Kate received a lot of calls with no caller ID, thought to be Julia Wandelt.
“Kate blocked Julia as a contact. I don’t know how you block a no caller ID.”
McCann then confirms to Karen Spragg’s barrister that he was never contacted by Spragg, only speaking to her when she turned up at his house.
Prosecution finishes
Michael Duck KC has finished his questioning of Gerry McCann.
The barristers for Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg will now take over.
Alleged stalkers’ actions ‘detrimental to investigation’ into Madeleine’s disappearance
Gerry McCann says he didn’t read the letter that was left for him and his wife Kate at his house.
He says it was “signed from Madeleine” so he ignored it.
“We don’t know what’s happened to Madeleine, there’s no evidence she’s dead,” McCann says.
“When people claim to be your missing daughter you haven’t seen for this long, it pulls on your heartstrings. But it is damaging the search for Madeleine.”
After the defendants turned up at his house, McCann says he improved the CCTV there.
“Every time you drive home, you wonder is someone going to be there,” he says.
“It impacted us virtually every day because you’re driving in and you’re worried.”
Spragg ‘accused Gerry of being a Freemason’
Gerry McCann says Karen Spragg “accused me of being a member of the Masons” when she appeared on his doorstep alongside Julia Wandelt in December 2024.
“I’m not,” Gerry says. “It’s pretty unlikely. I don’t think they let Catholics in.”
He says Spragg also talked to him about a cover-up surrounding the 2007 disappearance of his daughter Madeleine
Gerry says that once he got inside his house, “they kept banging on the door, banging and shouting”.
At that point, Kate McCann was “still pretty shaken”, he adds.
Recording played to court showing night defendants turned up at McCann home
The court is shown a recording of the discussion between Gerry McCann, Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg at the McCann family home in Rothley, Leicestershire, on 7 December 2024.
On the audio, which was recorded by the defendants, McCann says: “You’re not Madeleine, please do not hassle us.”
Much of the conversation is inaudible, but McCann can be heard threatening to call the police as both women argue with him.
McCann is asked about his recollection of the event.
“I was probably much calmer than I would have been if Kate didn’t warn me,” he said.
Situation was becoming ‘unbearable’, says Gerry
Gerry McCann says the contact from Julia Wandelt to his wife Kate was “relentless, unrelenting”.
He says he told the police that the situation was becoming “unbearable”.
He is asked about the night that both Wandelt and Karen Spragg turned up on his drive, and that Kate had called to warn him.
“Kate was very distressed. Her voice, she was clearly upset. I was five minutes away. When I arrived there was a small white car parked on the crescent, which was very unusual.
“I saw two women on the drive. I had seen a photo of Julia and it looked very much like the same woman.”
Gerry McCann emotional as he describes impact on children
Switching back to the messages sent by Julia Wandelt to his daughter Amelie, Gerry McCann becomes emotional.
His voice breaks when he talks about his children being contacted.
“I was appalled,” he said. “We had done our best to try to protect Sean and Amelie.
“Given what has happened to Madeleine, we try to keep them out of the media as much as possible.
“We know they want to be identified as Sean and Amelie McCann, and not missing Madeleine’s brother and sister.
“As a parent, you want to try to protect your children. We know social media can be damaging and there is nasty stuff online about us, so obviously we want to protect them from that.”
McCann recalls confronting ‘stalker’ on phone: ‘You’re not Madeleine’
Gerry McCann says he answered the phone to Julia Wandelt on one of the many occasions that she tried to call Kate McCann.
He tells the court he told Wandelt: “You’re not Madeleine.”
‘The phone kept going off, one time after the other’
Michael Duck KC asks Gerry McCann about the messages sent by Julia Wandelt to his daughter Amelie.
Earlier, Kate McCann says discovering this was “the final straw” that led her to contact the police.
Gerry says he was not initially aware of the messages sent to Amelie, which he says “makes me quite sad”.
He adds that he was aware Wandelt was trying to communicate with Kate: “There were multiple times when I was present when her phone kept going off, one time after the other.
“Sometimes there would be messages coming through on WhatsApp saying she was Madeleine.”
Wandelt wrote to Gerry McCann: ‘I think I’m Madeleine’
Gerry McCann says he first became aware of Julia Wandelt in 2023 after receiving information from a family liaison officer.
He says he and Kate were sent a photograph of Wandelt and said he was “very confident” just by looking that it was not his daughter.
Michael Duck KC then takes McCann through an email that was sent to him from Wandelt via the Find Madeleine campaign in June 2022.
It started: “Hello, I’m writing to you because I think I’m Madeleine McCann.”
A year later, McCann received another email from Wandelt, in which she said she’d started to believe she was Madeleine in June 2022.
He says he doesn’t specifically remember receiving the email but would typically forward them to police investigators.
Gerry McCann giving evidence
The afternoon session at court is beginning, and we are about to hear evidence from Gerry McCann.
He is being sworn in on the Bible ahead of questioning from prosecutor Michael Duck KC.
Like his wife Kate, Gerry is also giving his evidence behind a curtain so the public and defendants cannot see him.
Defendants sketched in court as Kate McCann gave evidence
Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom today, so there are no pictures to bring you.
Instead, this sketch has been drawn by an artist in court – as is usually the case – and has produced this image of Karen Spragg (left) and Julia Wandelt listening to Kate McCann’s evidence.
What we heard from Kate McCann over three hours of questioning
With Kate McCann’s evidence over after more than three hours, here’s a recap of what we heard from her this morning:
- McCann said her first contact with defendant Julia Wandelt, who allegedly claimed to be her missing daughter Madeleine, occurred “about three years ago”;
- The court was played a voicemail left from Wandelt to McCann;
- McCann said the “final straw” that prompted her to call the police was when Wandelt reached out to McCann’s daughter;
- She said she was relieved when she heard Wandelt had turned up to a vigil marking Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2024, as she was not there to see her;
- But McCann then recalled the moment Wandelt and second defendant Karen Spragg turned up at her house one evening in 2024;
- The court also heard the contents of a letter posted through the McCanns’ door the day after the encounter, which said “I am your daughter”;
- After McCann had given her first round of evidence, Wandelt was led away from the dock after sobbing loudly and shouting: “Why are you doing this to me?”
Court will resume at 2.30pm with more evidence.
Kate McCann finishes giving evidence
Kate McCann has now finished giving her evidence in today’s proceedings.
There will now be a lunch break, with court to resume at 2.30pm.
‘I know I’d recognise Madeleine’
Simon Russell Flint KC, barrister for Karen Spragg, is now asking questions to Kate McCann.
McCann confirms that many people have tried to contact her over the years but says “not many” have claimed to be Madeleine.
She says she is “pretty sure I never, ever responded” to Julia Wandelt’s attempts to contact her.
Flint asks McCann why she didn’t agree to a DNA test.
She said that having seen a photograph of Wandelt and the fact she was Polish, “none of it made any sense”.
“I know I can’t say what Madeleine looks like now, but I know I’d recognise her,” she said.
‘They were knocking, not banging’
Tom Price KC, representing Julia Wandelt, is asking Kate McCann about the day Wandelt and another woman visited her address.
Asked about the letter Wandelt was holding, McCann said: “I was aware she was holding something. She was pleading. She was asking about the DNA test again.”
She said the two women “didn’t give me any indication” they wanted to hurt her.
Price told the court the pair were “knocking, not banging” on the door to carry on the conversation.
McCann says journalists came to her home over Wandelt’s claims
Kate McCann goes through some of her previous statements and confirms again that the “final straw” for her was when Julia Wandelt contacted her children.
She said she also had journalists coming to her home to ask her about Wandelt.
She said she eventually blocked Wandelt’s number on her phone, but said Wandelt would then ring without caller ID, “which was a problem” as the police would often call without caller ID, she added.
Court resumes
We’re back under way after a 10-minute break.
Tom Price KC, representing Julia Wandelt, is now cross-examining Kate McCann.
Wandelt is back in the courtroom after being led out by dock officers crying and shouting before the break.
In full: The letter posted through the McCanns’ door
Here’s the full readout of the letter that was posted through the letterbox of the McCanns on 7 December 2024, the day after Julia Wandelt turned up at their front door:
“Dear Mum (Kate),
“I’m so sorry for causing you so much distress, but when I saw you yesterday, my emotions were so strong. I felt a close connection to you. I don’t like seeing you upset.
“All I want is to find out the truth. I have memories and I have gathered a lot of evidence supporting my case.
“I think that inside your heart you believe and know who I am and I am your daughter.
“I don’t understand why you don’t want to do a DNA test with me.I think you are scared, but whatever makes you scared, just remember that you are stronger than that.
“Yesterday, I heard a lot of care and love in your voice. I hope you will find a way to contact me.”
The letter was signed by “Madeleine” along with a kiss.
Wandelt sobs as she is led out of courtroom
The prosecution has finished putting questions to Kate McCann after two hours. The court is taking a 10-minute break.
Julia Wandelt is in tears again as the jury leaves the court.
She shouts: “Why are you doing this to me?”
Two dock officers lead her away, leaving Karen Spragg alone.
McCann ‘added and readded’ to WhatsApp groups
Kate McCann says she suddenly found she was being added to groups on WhatsApp.
She says she had no interest in the groups and would leave them, only to be added back in.
“It felt a bit out of my control really,” she says. “I didn’t want any involvement at all.”
The court hears that one WhatsApp message read: “I don’t understand why you can’t do a DNA test with her.”
‘It’s killing me inside’
Julia Wandelt allegedly posted a message into one of the groups saying: “I won’t be able to live normally without the truth – it’s killing me inside.”
She also wrote: “I only want to hug you, be accepted and cry in your arms.”
McCann says she “felt concerned” and thought Wandelt’s behaviour indicated that she had mental health problems.
Letter read to court from Wandelt addressed to ‘Mum’
The following day, Kate McCann says she received a letter from Wandelt.
Addressed to “Mum (Kate)”, it said “I don’t like seeing you upset” and said McCann’s refusal of taking a DNA test was because she was “scared”.
“All I want is to find out the truth,” the letter continued, with Wandelt claiming to “have memories” of being Madeleine.
McCann tells the court she just wanted Madeleine back, so the letter was “really stressing”.
“Her referring to me as her mum was hard,” she adds.
‘I felt invaded in my home’
Kate McCann says the second woman, Karen Spragg, was “slightly more aggressive” and was asking: “Don’t you want to find your daughter?”
She says she asked them both to leave, but Wandelt was trying to stop her from closing her front door.
Asked by prosecutor Michael Duck KC if she wanted the women there, McCann said she did not.
Duck said: “Did you make that plain?”
“I did,” McCann replied. “I told them to leave. I told them I was distressed.”
She said Gerry McCan was on his way home separately and she called him to warn him that Wandelt was at the house.
Even after he had returned home, the women continued to bang on the front door, McCann says.
‘She called me mum’: McCann recalls moment Wandelt turned up at her home
Kate McCann is now speaking about the time that Julia Wandelt and another person came to her home.
The court heard earlier this week that Wandelt had turned up outside the house with Karen Spragg, the 61-year-old from Cardiff also charged with stalking.
McCann says she returned home in December 2024 and was opening her car boot when “someone said Kate”.
She said her immediate reaction was fear and recalls how it was very dark at the time.
She says she “pretty quickly” identified who it was calling her name – Wandelt and another woman.
“She called me mum,” McCann says, adding that this was “the usual stuff” from Wandelt.
McCann recalls finding out Wandelt attended Madeleine vigil
We’re now hearing more about an annual vigil held in Madeleine’s memory in the McCanns’ home village, Rothley.
The court has previously heard how Julia Wandelt attended the vigil and approached the village priest and Kate McCann’s aunt, who she gave a letter to.
McCann, who wasn’t at the vigil as she’d been away, said she became aware of Wandelt’s attendance from friends and other family members.
When she found out this information, she said she was “totally relieved that I wasn’t there”.
“It’s quite a hard experience having the gathering anyway. I felt I would have ended up really upset,” she said.
“It would have taken away from the reason we were there.”
A letter from Wandelt to McCann is then read to the court, which says: “I presume I must be your missing daughter.”
McCann says message to her daughter was ‘final straw’
Kate McCann says it was “the final straw” when she discovered that Julia Wandelt had messaged her 20-year-old daughter, Amelie.
She says after this, she went to the police to discuss the matter.
Wandelt cries as she listens to evidence
Julia Wandelt appears to have been crying as she listens to part of Kate McCann’s evidence, with sobs heard in court.
So far, the court has been played recordings of some of the messages that Wandelt left on McCann’s phone.
‘It started getting to me’: Kate McCann says she considered DNA test
Kate McCann says that she almost wanted to agree to a DNA test, given how persistent Julia Wandelt’s claims were that she was Madeleine.
“If I’m honest, because of the persistence of Julia’s behaviour, it did start to get to me,” she told the court.
“I almost wanted a DNA test to put it to bed… from the photographs… I knew it wasn’t her.”
“It started getting to me,” she adds.
Court hears voicemails left on Kate McCann’s phone
The court has now heard recordings of messages left from Julia Wandelt on Kate McCann’s phone.
One of them says: “You have nothing to lose. If I’m her, then everything will be OK. If not, then I’ll leave you alone.”
Another says: “Don’t give up on your daughter, because I’m not a liar. I’m not crazy.”
Wandelt, who cannot see McCann as she is hidden by a blue curtain, has been sitting quietly listening to the evidence so far.
She says she recognises in the recordings that she has a Polish accent and says: “I know what I remember.”
Police showed McCanns a photo of Wandelt after initial claims
Kate McCann says it was police officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine who first made her aware that Julia Wandelt was claiming to be her daughter.
Both Kate and Gerry McCann were then sent a picture of Wandelt by police, with both concluding that she was not Madeleine.
Kate says she then didn’t respond to the messages left on her phone by Wandelt, one of which, left in April 2024, said: “I never lied, I’m not crazy, please let me prove it.”
She says “didn’t want to engage” with the messages.
Kate McCann first became aware of Wandelt after 2022 call to husband Gerry
Kate McCann says that even after the 2007 disappearance of her daughter Madeleine, and knowing that her mobile number was in the public domain, she did not change it.
She also says she doesn’t use social media and that after the disappearance she tries to “stay away from that… because it doesn’t help”.
McCann says she first became aware of Julia Wandelt three years ago when she tried to contact Gerry McCann with a call to the hospital that he works at.
Kate says she was aware that Wandelt had emailed the Find Madeleine campaign, but had not initially been told details of what her message said.
She says the first direct contact she received from Wandelt came in the earlier part of 2024.
Kate McCann begins evidence
We’re about to get under way at Leicester Crown Court.
Kate McCann is sitting behind a blue curtain to protect her privacy.
After being sworn in, she speaks softly as she is asked to go through the contacts on her phone.
McCann’s phone has been an important part of the trial so far. A voicemail left on the device from Julia Wandelt was played to the jury this week (see 9.47 post).
Curtains to be put up for Kate McCann’s evidence
The jury at Leicester Crown Court are currently being taken through the agreed facts before the trial resumes.
Agreed facts are pieces of evidence or happenings that both sides accept are true, allowing the court to focus on the contentious issues.
Next, the jury will be sent out and screens will be put up to protect Kate McCann.
Wandelt and Spragg discussed stealing McCanns’ rubbish to get DNA samples, court hears
Jurors have so far heard that Julia Wandelt allegedly turned up at the McCanns’ family home and signed a letter addressed to them as Madeleine.
Alongside Karen Spragg, who is also on trial alongside Wandelt, the 24-year-old also allegedly discussed stealing bags of rubbish from the family’s home to get DNA samples.
Continuing the prosecution’s opening at Leicester Crown Court yesterday, Michael Duck KC said Kate McCann was “unnerved” when they both waited outside her home last year. They were “banging on the door” and Wandelt “tried to force a letter” into Gerry McCann’s hand.
He said when Kate McCann managed to get into her house, she recalls Wandelt try to stop her closing the door.
The court heard that in a letter left at the home the next day, Wandelt wrote: “Dear mum [Kate], I’m so sorry for causing you so much distress. I felt a connection to you. I don’t like to see you being upset. All I want is to find out the truth. Yesterday I heard a lot of care and love in your voice.”
She signed the note “Lots of love, Madeleine”, the court heard.
Duck said messages between Spragg and Wandelt suggested they also considered going through bins at the McCanns’ home and “stealing the garbage” to take to a hotel, but they did not go through with the plan.
Who else is on trial?
Here is Karen Spragg arriving at Leicester Crown Court yesterday morning.
She is on trial alongside Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin, southwest Poland.
Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, is charged with one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
Michael Duck KC told the jury yesterday that Spragg “began to take an active role in peddling Julia Wandelt’s case” and the pair “were very much operating as a team” in 2024.
“It is clear… that Karen Spragg was a forthright supporter of the conspiracy theory that Kate McCann and Gerry McCann were in some way involved in the disappearance of their daughter, despite the unequivocal evidence to the contrary.”
Both Spragg and Wandelt have denied the charges against them.
‘I’m not a liar, I’m not crazy’
A voicemail left on Kate McCann’s phone was played to the jury at Leicester Crown Court this week in which Julia Wandelt allegedly said: “You have nothing to lose, if I’m her then everybody should be okay but if I’m not, as you probably think, then I will leave you alone.
“I know my accent is Polish because I live here, I know I look fat and I know I’m not pretty like Madeleine was in the past, but I know what I know, I know what I remember.
“Please just give me a chance, I’m not a liar, I’m not crazy – I just want to know the truth. Call me or message me or whatever please.”
Woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann pretended to be two other missing girls, court hears
The woman who allegedly claimed to be missing toddler Madeleine McCann pretended to be two other girls who had also vanished, Leicester Crown Court heard on Monday.
Julia Wandelt, 24, allegedly called and messaged Kate McCann, Madeleine’s mother, 60 times in a day.
In one message, Wandelt allegedly said she remembered Mrs McCann on the night of the abduction “rubbing my head and said I love you and you would find me”.
This week the court heard that Wandelt did not limit her claims to being Madeleine, but two more girls.
The alleged stalker, from Lubin, southwest Poland, is on trial with Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road, Caerau, Cardiff.
They both deny stalking Kate and Madeleine’s father Gerry McCann, causing serious alarm or distress, between June 2022 and February this year.
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Sky News
Good morning
Hello and welcome to our live coverage.
This morning, Madeleine McCann’s mother, Kate McCann, is due to give evidence in court in the trial of a woman who allegedly claimed to be the missing toddler.
Julia Wandelt, 24, allegedly called and messaged Kate McCann 60 times in a day claiming to be Madeleine, who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 after her parents left her asleep in their holiday apartment.
We’ll be bringing you live coverage of Kate McCann’s evidence here in this live blog, so stay tuned.
