Accused Harasser Questioned: 'Yet What If I Am Madeleine?'

A female charged with stalking Kate McCann apparently deposited her a recorded message which posed: "suppose I am Madeleine?"

The defendant, twenty-four, who a jury heard has persistently claimed she was the disappeared Madeleine McCann, and her co-defendant are standing trial charged with harassing Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court was told call records and information obtained from phones recorded Ms Wandelt consistently asking Madeleine's mother for a DNA test throughout that period.

Madeleine's vanishing in 2007 - at the age of three during a trip in Portugal - is considered the most publicized child disappearance cases and is still unresolved.

'I Do Not Need Money'

Another phone message, shared in court, captured Ms Wandelt saying: "I realize I'm fat and plain like Madeleine used to be, but I believe what I feel."

While a separate message of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's answerphone said: "What if there is a slight possibility that I am she? What then? Wouldn't that be important for you?"

"I am not seeking money, I have a existence here in Poland, I just want to discover," the message continued.

The jury was informed that through electronic messages, SMS messages and phone calls, Ms Wandelt requested a biological test, forwarded early photographs to her phone in a bid to show a resemblance to Mrs McCann's disappeared daughter, and stated to have "flashbacks" from a youth with the McCanns.

The investigator, a data specialist with Leicestershire Police who collated the evidence, informed the court there "didn't appear to be any replies" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt additionally communicated with acquaintances of the McCanns, based on the call data.

On 9 October 2024, Mr McCann answered a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "the wrong phone."

On that occasion Ms Wandelt recorded a message on Mrs McCann's recording declaring "I will persist and I will prove my point."

The court was informed the co-defendant struck up a connection via internet with Ms Wandelt before assisting her on a visit to the McCanns' residence in the county in last December.

Call logs revealed Mrs Spragg had communicated via communication app to Mrs McCann to express the news outlets had depicted Ms Wandelt as "emotionally disturbed" but that she deserved to be taken seriously in the period preceding the visit to Rothley, Leicestershire, in that winter.

The court was told correspondence between the two accused, in that autumn, discussing trying to get Mrs McCann's DNA samples from her trash or from utensils at a eating establishment.

"We need to assert ourselves," Mrs Spragg told Ms Wandelt.

On the night of the appearance to their house, the defendant sent a communication which said: "We find ourselves sitting outside the McCanns' residence with our headlights off similar to detectives. I desired to do this with another person I didn't imagine I would be doing that with the McCanns."

The trial continues.