'Fake Madeleine McCann' and woman, 60, in court accused of 'stalking' tot's family
A Polish national and Welsh woman accused of stalking the family of Madeleine McCann have appeared before court today and denied the allegations against them. Julia Wandel, 23, and 60-year-old Karen Spragg, of Caerau in Cardiff, were charged in connection with an investigation into the alleged stalking of Madeleine McCann's family.
Wandel, who appeared in the dock at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday, is accused of stalking Kate, Gerry, Sean and Amelie McCann between January 3 2024 and February 15 2025. She is alleged to have attended the family home in Leicestershire on May 2 and December 7 last year.
She is also accused of sending a letter, calls, voicemails and WhatsApp messages to Kate and Gerry McCann, and sending Amelie and Sean McCann Instagram messages between January 3 and December 29 last year. She has plead not guilty to the charges.
Spragg is accused of one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress between May 3 2024 and February 21 this year. Spragg is alleged to have made calls, sent letters and attended the home address of Mr and Mrs McCann. Spragg has also denied a charge of stalking the family.
Spragg was charged last month with one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress between May 3 2024 and February 21 this year. The indictment alleges that 60-year-old Spragg made calls, sent letters and attended the home address of Mr and Mrs McCann.
Wandel was remanded back into custody while Spragg was granted conditional bail. Both will appear at the same court for trial on October 2.
Madeleine McCann's disappearance at the age of three from Praia da Luz in Portugal's Algarve when her family was on holiday in May 2007 remains unsolved. The three-year-old tot went missing during a family holiday while her mum and dad were out for dinner at a nearby restaurant.
The couple returned to the holiday let to find that their little girl had vanished. To this day, they don't know what happened to her. They have since campaigned to find Madeleine, who would now be 20, and the Metropolitan Police has spent more than £13million to date on her investigation, dubbed Operation Grange.
The McCann family continue to grieve the loss of their young girl and mum Kate still makes sure to mark her birthdays and Christmas. In 2017, on the tenth anniversary of her abduction, Kate shared how she still buys presents for her missing daughter.
"She shared: "I do all the present buying. I think about what age she is and buy something that, whenever we find her, will still be appropriate so there's a lot of thought goes into it." The heartbroken mother also described Madeleine's birthday as a "difficult time" because that's when she really feels her absence.
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