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Women plead not guilty to stalking family of Madeleine McCann

Women plead not guilty to stalking family of Madeleine McCann

ITV News22-04-2025
A Polish national who has claimed to be Madeleine McCann has pleaded not guilty to stalking the missing girl's parents and siblings.
Julia Wandel appeared in the dock at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday accused of causing serious alarm or distress to the family between June 2022 and February 2025.
A court previously heard Wandel is accused of making calls, leaving voicemails, and sending a letter and WhatsApp messages to Kate and Gerry McCann, as well as sending Sean and Amelie McCann Instagram messages.
Karen Spragg, of Caerau in Cardiff, is also alleged to have made calls, sent letters and attended the home address of Mr and Mrs McCann, but also denied the charge of stalking.
Wandel, 23, from Lubin in south-west Poland, claimed to be the missing girl on Instagram in 2023, but a DNA test said she was Polish.
She spoke to confirm her name was Julia Wandel 'according to documents' and to enter her plea during the hearing.
The defendant, who is also known as Julia Wandelt, is alleged to have attended the family home in Leicestershire on May 2 and December 7 last year according to a previous court appearance, and she was arrested at Bristol Airport in February.
She was remanded back into custody by Judge Timothy Spencer KC to appear in court in August to decide if she will be granted bail.
Spragg, 60, who stood in the dock beside Wandel, is charged with one count of stalking causing serious alarm or distress.
She was granted bail with conditions not to contact Mr and Mrs McCann, their children and two family friends, not to enter Leicestershire unless attending court and to live and sleep at her home address.
Both women will appear at the same court for trial on October 2.
Madeleine McCann's disappearance at the age of three in Portugal's Algarve in 2007, during a family holiday, remains unsolved.
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