Detective’s brutal 5-word takedown of ‘Fake Maddie McCann’ | UK | News
A police detective has revealed the moment Madeleine McCann gave a surprising five-word response to the man who was allegedly stalking her family. Two women accused of secretly stalking the McCann family, 24-year-old Julia Wandelt and 61-year-old Karen Spragg, heard a shocking phone call in court.
Det Con Mark Draycott, who was based in Operation Grange, told Leicester Crown Court that Wandelt contacted him in June 2022. The 24-year-old Polish national allegedly claimed to be Madeleine and that she was trafficked to Poland at a young age. A dramatic phone call took place between police and a woman claiming to be the missing girl during the hearing into the alleged stalking of Madeleine McCann’s family.
DC Draycott told jurors that Operation Grange, which he worked on from 2011 until March, was set up “to try to discover what happened to Madeleine McCann”, who disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007. Police said after he and his team thought she wasn’t the missing girl, he called Wandelt and told her, “You’re not Madeleine McCann.”
DC Draycott told the court she spoke to Wandelt on the phone in 2022 after he claimed he was a teenager.
Explaining why he telephoned the defendant, DC Draycott said: “To reassure him that she was not Madeleine McCann. “I explained that we had reviewed all the material and used our professional expertise to confirm that she was not Madeleine McCann.
“He said he was relieved it wasn’t actually Madeleine McCann.”
The jury heard audio of a second phone call between DC Draycott and Wandelt after he attended the vigil last year, which was secretly recorded by Wandelt and used in a YouTube crime podcast.
When DC Draycott said: “If you cause any harassment you could be arrested,” Wandelt was heard responding: “Is this blackmail?”
At the end of the meeting, Wandelt was heard saying, “I will never give up.”
Wandelt and 61-year-old Karen Spragg deny the stalking allegations.
The court also heard Madeleine McCann’s great-aunt tell the jury she was “stunned” that an alleged stalker of the family had attended an annual vigil in their village, adding there was “no way” she was the missing girl.
Janet Kennedy, Kate McCann’s aunt, told Leicester Crown Court that she “cannot accept” that Julia Wandelt, 24, is her missing niece, adding that “the important person that Madeleine was – was – was not there.”
Giving evidence on Friday, Ms Kennedy said Wandelt confronted her and handed her an envelope containing information “that would prove she was Madeleine” during the annual meeting in Rothley, Leicestershire, on May 3 last year.
Giving evidence on Friday, Ms Kennedy said Wandelt confronted her and handed her an envelope containing information “that would prove she was Madeleine” during the annual meeting in Rothley, Leicestershire, on May 3 last year.
He told the jury: “She said she was Madeleine and that she was sorry the McCanns weren’t there, but she asked me to give them some information and presented me with an envelope containing information that would prove it was Madeleine.
“I was quite surprised by her approach. I looked at her and thought, ‘She’s not Madeleine.’ There’s no way she’s Madeleine.”
“I think it’s an intuitive thing for someone to know someone. You just know that person. The main person that Madeleine was wasn’t there.
“Even though Madeleine was almost four years old when she was kidnapped and I was now meeting someone 17 years later, the main person was still recognizable even after the years had passed.
“When Julia says she is Madeleine… you are Polish by the color of your skin, there are distinct differences in people’s appearance depending on where they come from.
“So were the eyes. The eyes didn’t look like Madeleine’s eyes. That’s why I couldn’t accept it.”
The case continues.
