Polish woman guilty of harassing but not stalking family of missing Madeleine McCann

In this May 2, 2012 file photo, Kate and Gerry McCann pose for the media with a missing poster depicting an age progression computer generated image of their daughter Madeleine at nine years of age, to mark her birthday and the 5th anniversary of her disappearance during a family vacation in southern Portugal in May 2007, during a news conference in London. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)

LONDON -- A Polish woman was on Friday convicted of harassing the family of missing British girl Madeleine McCann for more than two years, but was cleared of a more serious charge of stalking them.

Julia Wandelt falsely claimed to be Madeleine, who disappeared in May 2007, nine days short of her fourth birthday, while on holiday with her family in Portugal’s Algarve region.

Prosecutors told jurors at Leicester Crown Court that there was “unequivocal scientific evidence” Wandelt had no familial link to the McCanns, which prompted her to sob in the dock.

Wandelt, 24, was charged with stalking Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry, including through emails, messages and phone calls, from June 2022 until her arrest in February.

She and Karen Spragg, 61, who prosecutors said supported Wandelt’s claims, were both acquitted by a jury of stalking the McCanns.

Wandelt was convicted of harassment, which carries a maximum six-month sentence and she is expected to be released when she is sentenced later on Friday given time already spent in custody.

McCanns tell jurors of their distress

Kate McCann gave evidence last month saying that Wandelt made her feel distressed and “invaded” by approaching her at her house and claiming to be her daughter in December 2024.

She also said Wandelt sent a letter the following day addressed to “mum,” which Kate McCann said she found “really distressing.”

Wandelt appeared to wipe away tears during parts of Kate McCann’s evidence and wailed loudly in the dock at the end of the prosecution’s questions.

Gerry McCann and Madeleine’s younger sister Amelie also gave evidence about the impact on them of Wandelt’s attempts to contact them.

Wandelt, however, told jurors that she never meant to cause any harm to the McCanns and simply wanted to find out if she might be their missing daughter.

“I even have sympathy for them ... because they look for their child and I look for my parents,” she said.

Madeleine’s parents continue to campaign to find their daughter, who would now be 22, and issue a statement each year on the anniversary of the day she went missing.

The main suspect in her disappearance was released from a German prison in September after serving a seven-year sentence for an unrelated sex crime.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)