Suspected Stalker Questioned: 'But Imagine I Could Be Madeleine?'

Courtroom sketch
Karen Spragg - according to court testimony believes she is missing Madeleine McCann - contest the allegations

A individual charged with harassing Kate McCann allegedly deposited her a phone message which posed: "imagine I am Madeleine?"

The defendant, 24, who a jury heard has repeatedly declared she was the disappeared Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are standing trial indicted with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February this year.

Madeleine McCann photo
Madeleine McCann's disappearance has never been resolved

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court heard communication data and evidence obtained from phones logged Ms Wandelt persistently asking Madeleine's mother for a DNA test over the past two years.

Madeleine's case in 2007 - when she was three years old during a family holiday in Portugal - is among the most covered missing child cases and remains open.

'I Don't Want Money'

One phone message, presented in court, documented Ms Wandelt stating: "I know I'm overweight and plain like Madeleine used to be, but I feel what I believe."

While another instance of Ms Wandelt's one-way conversations with Mrs McCann's answerphone expressed: "Suppose there is a tiny probability that I am Madeleine? What happens next? Wouldn't that be crucial for you?"

"I don't want money, I have a living here in Poland, I simply desire to understand," she added.

The panel was advised that via electronic messages, SMS messages and calls, Ms Wandelt requested a genetic test, transmitted childhood photos to her phone in a bid to demonstrate a likeness to Mrs McCann's missing daughter, and asserted to have "flashbacks" from a childhood with the McCanns.

Robert Jones, an intelligence analyst with the police force who collated the information, advised the court there "seemed to lack any responses" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt furthermore communicated with family friends of the McCanns, according to the call data.

On that date, Gerry McCann responded to a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "a wrong number."

During that incident Ms Wandelt left a voicemail on Mrs McCann's recording saying "I will continue and I plan to establish my point."

Court proceedings
Kate and Gerry McCann provided testimony to the court from behind a protective barrier on Wednesday

The court heard Mrs Spragg struck up a connection through digital means with Ms Wandelt before accompanying her on a appearance to the McCanns' property in Leicestershire in last December.

Call logs demonstrated Mrs Spragg had reached out through communication app to Mrs McCann to state the media had depicted Ms Wandelt as "a crazy person" but that she ought to be considered genuine in the months leading up to the trip to that location, that area, in last December.

The court learned message exchanges between the two accused, in that autumn, discussing trying to get Mrs McCann's genetic material from her trash or from cutlery at a eating establishment.

"We have to assert ourselves," Mrs Spragg advised Ms Wandelt.

On the night of the visit to their house, the defendant transmitted a text which said: "We're currently sat outside the McCanns' house with our headlights off similar to detectives. I wanted to accomplish this with someone else I hadn't anticipated I would be involved in this with the McCanns."

The trial proceeds.

Ashley Morgan
Ashley Morgan

Tech enthusiast and futurist writer with a passion for exploring how emerging technologies shape our daily lives and future societies.