After resurfacing earlier this year with a brand new DNA test that she says ‘proves’ she is related to Gerry McCann, the Polish lady who insists she is Madeleine McCann was arrested at Bristol airport moments after arriving in the UK at the end of February, and has been in jail ever since.
Julia Wandel, 23, appeared in court via video link today (28 March), accused of stalking Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry, as well as their twins, Sean and Amelie, over the last year.
The latest updates from court reveal just how far Julia Wandel took her stalking campaign against the McCanns; she allegedly sent letters, made calls, left voicemails and WhatsApp messages to Kate and Gerry (no idea how the hell she got their numbers), and terrifyingly, also reached out to Maddie’s siblings on Instagram last year. Imagine how freaked out they must have been!
A spokesperson for Leicestershire Police said at the time of Wendel’s arrest:
“Julia Wandel – also known as Julia Wandelt – 23, of Lubin, Poland, has been charged with four counts of stalking.
“Two counts relate to offences between 2 May 2024 and 15 February 2025, a third count relates to offences between 3 January 2024 and 21 April 2024, and the fourth count for offences between 27 November 2024 and 29 December 2024. She has been remanded in custody to appear at Leicester Magistrates’ Court today (21 February).”
That’s a lot of stalking.
Today, Wandel’s lawyer made a 15-minute application to convince the Crown Court judge to grant Wandel bail, but it was turned down. This means Wandel will remain behind bars until the trial preparation hearing listed to take place at the same court in April, and will probably still be in jail for a considerable time after that.
A 60-year-old woman who was arrested alongside Wendel at Bristol Airport last month has now also been charged as part of the stalking investigation.
Wandel went viral a couple years back when she created a bunch of social media accounts using the handle @iammadeleinemccan and insisted she was the missing daughter of Gerry & Kate McCann. She took multiple DNA tests to prove this but they all came back saying it was highly unlikely that she was Madeleine McCann (one test even said she was 100% Polish).
Undettered, she kept taking more DNA tests until she found one that she claims proves Gerry McCann is her father: a 69.23% match with DNA found at the crime scene where Madeleine was abducted in Portugal!
Just a few problems with that – 69.23% is not strong enough to suggest an immediate familial link, and Gerry & Kate McCann are refusing to supply their own DNA in any case. I mean, I’m sure the police investigating Maddie’s disappearance have the McCann’s DNA on file, but clearly no one is willing to entertain this random Polish girl’s fantasy that she is the missing British child.
Wandel’s own parents have shown her a birth certificate and childhood photographs that prove she is their Polish born-and-bred daughter (she claims to have memory loss from her childhood), but she still refuses to budge.Her parents had put out this statement regarding the whole situation:
“For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet. It’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation.”
Must be absolutely mortifying for them. Who knows – maybe spending some tie in jail and being charged with stalking Kate & Gerry McCann is what needs to happen to finally knock some sense into this girl. Here’s hoping she gets the help she needs while we continue to spend millions and come up with nothing substantial in the search for Madeleine McCann.
For the time Madeleine McCann’s sister spoke publicly for the first time since Maddie’s disappearance, click HERE.
