A police detective has revealed the moment he gave a withering five-word response to the alleged stalker of Madeleine McCann’s family. Two women, Julia Wandelt, 24, and Karen Spragg, 61, accused of stalking the McCann family, heard a shocking phone call played in court.
Det Con Mark Draycott, who was an officer on Operation Grange, told Leicester Crown Court he was contacted by Wandelt in, June 2022. The 24-year-old Polish national has allegedly claimed she is Madeleine and was trafficked into Poland at a young age. A trial into the alleged stalking of Madeleine McCann’s family heard a dramatic phone call between police and a woman accused of claiming she is the missing girl.
DC Draycott told jurors Operation Grange, which he worked on from 2011 to March, was set up “to try to discover what happened to Madeleine McCann” – who vanished while on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007. The cop told the court that he called Wandelt after he and his team deemed she was not the missing girl and said: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
DC Draycott told the court he spoke to Wandelt on the phone in 2022 after she claimed to be the youngster.
Explaining why he phoned the defendant, DC Draycott said: “To reassure her she was not Madeleine McCann. I explained we had gone over all the material and used our professional expertise… to confirm she was not Madeleine McCann.
“She actually said she was relieved not to be Madeleine McCann.”
The audio of a second phone call between DC Draycott and Wandelt last year, after she attended the vigil, which was secretly recorded by Wandelt and used in a Youtube crime podcast, was heard by the jury.
When DC Draycott said: “If you cause any harassment you could be arrested”, Wandelt is heard to reply: “Is this blackmail?”
At the end of the call, Wandelt was heard saying: “I will never give up.”
Wandelt and Karen Spragg, 61, both deny one count of stalking.
The court also heard from Madeleine McCann’s great-aunt who told a jury that she was “stunned” when an alleged stalker of the family attended an annual vigil in their home village, adding that there was “no way” she was the missing girl.
Janet Kennedy, who is Kate McCann’s aunt, told Leicester Crown Court she “could not accept” that Julia Wandelt, 24, was her missing great-niece, adding that the “essential person that Madeleine is – was – was not there”.
Giving evidence on Friday, Mrs Kennedy said Wandelt confronted her and gave her an envelope with information “that would prove she was Madeleine” during the yearly gathering in Rothley, Leicestershire, on May 3 last year.
Giving evidence on Friday, Mrs Kennedy said Wandelt confronted her and gave her an envelope with information “that would prove she was Madeleine” during the yearly gathering in Rothley, Leicestershire, on May 3 last year.
She told the jury: “She said that she was Madeleine and that she was sorry that the McCanns weren’t there, but she wished me to give them some information and she presented me with an envelope with information in that would prove she was Madeleine.
“I was rather stunned by her approach. I looked at her and thought ‘she is not Madeleine’. There’s just no way she could be Madeleine at all.
“I think one’s recognition of someone is something that is intuitive. You just know the person. The essential person that Madeleine is – was – was not there.
“Even though Madeleine was nearly four when she was abducted and now I’m now meeting someone 17 years later, the essential person would still be recognisable – even though the years had moved on.
“When Julia said she was Madeleine… with the colour of your skin, you are Polish, there are distinct differences in the way people look according to where they are from.
“And the eyes as well. The eyes did not look like Madeleine’s eyes. So I could not accept that.”
The case continues.