Madeleine McCann trial latest: ‘Isn’t that the end of this charade?’ – alleged stalker pressed in court over DNA mismatch

Julia Wandelt went viral online and amᴀssed over a million social media followers by posting “evidence” that she was Madeleine McCann, while also filming herself singing in her kitchen and playing with her cat.

The Polish national first posted on Instagram under the username “I am Madeleine McCann” in early 2023, before appearing on podcasts and an American chat show.

Wandelt told her trial at Leicester Crown Court she is not an “attention seeker”, did not post online for financial gain, and only started posting about her claims on social media because the police “ignored” her.

She was found guilty of harᴀssing the missing girl’s family today, but not guilty of stalking them.

She was sentenced to six months in prison today after being told by the judge her “pestering” and “badgering” of the McCanns was “unwarranted” and “unkind”.

It emerged during her evidence that she had received money, which she said totalled around £400, from her “supporters” which she wanted for a lie detector test and because her boyfriend kicked her out with no savings.

On her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Wandelt posted comparisons between her facial features and pictures of Madeleine, comparisons with Madeleine’s sister Amelie McCann, and DNA test results to prove to her followers that she was the missing girl.

She also published audio recordings she took when she went to the McCanns’ home last year to ask for a DNA test.

In her earlier TikTok posts, however, Wandelt’s videos focused more on her playing the guitar, singing, and wishing her cat Monte a happy birthday.

In one video, Wandelt can be seen standing in a kitchen singing a song she wrote called: “I didn’t know”, among videos of many covers of well-known songs.

When she started gaining media attention in March 2023, Wandelt, who also goes by the names Julia Wendell and Julia Faustyna, went to the United States with American psychic Fia Johansson, who allegedly took her phone and pᴀssport away from her.

The pair appeared on the US chat show Dr Phil, where Wandelt said: “When I started to think I could be Madeleine, I called to the Polish embᴀssy. I called to English embᴀssy. Nobody listened.

“I decided to create this Instagram and try to use the power of social media.”

The host of the show, whose full name is Phil McGraw, said to Wandelt: “She (Wandelt’s mother) says she went to the hospital and gave birth to you.”

Wandelt said: “My mother, when I asked her for DNA before this whole situation, when I asked her for some pictures from her pregnancy, some childhood pictures, me at three or four age, she refused, didn’t want to.”

Wandelt also appeared in a series of live-streamed interviews with YouTuber Shaun Attwood, and played a secret recording of her phone conversation with Detective Constable Mark Draycott from Operation Grange, the ongoing investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, in an episode.

In the call, Mr Draycott told Wandelt not to enter Leicester or call the British police with her claim to be Madeleine or she could be arrested.

Wandelt told her trial she was “threatened” by Mr Draycott in this call.