Madeleine McCann’s sister tells trial of woman claiming to be missing sibling: ‘I always knew she wasn’t Madeleine’

Madeleine McCann’s sister told the court she “always knew” the woman who claimed to be the missing girl was not her sister.

Amelie McCann received a series of messages from Julia Wandelt in which she insisted she was her missing sister, who disappeared without a trace at a Portuguese resort in 2007.

Ms Wandelt, 24, from Lubin in south-west Poland, is accused of causing serious alarm or distress by following Kate and Gerry McCann between June 2022 and February this year.

Giving evidence remotely at Leicester Crown Court, Amelie said it was “appalling” and “distressing” when Ms Wandelt sent messages detailing distinct memories from their childhood.

But he said he didn’t want Wandelt to take a DNA test because “he always knew she wasn’t Madeleine.”

Asked if Wandelt had replied to any of the messages he had sent her, Amelie told the jury: “No, I didn’t think it was appropriate to get involved and I don’t usually reply to people I don’t know to really protect myself.”

Prosecutor Nadia Silver continued: “Did you at any point seek to conduct a DNA test on Julia Wandelt?”

He replied: “No.”

When asked why she didn’t want to take a DNA test, Madeleine’s sister continued: “Because I always knew she wasn’t Madeleine, so there was no need for me to test, not guidance, but people around me didn’t think it was appropriate for her to have a DNA test either.”

Ms Wandelt and Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road, Caerau, Cardiff, deny following Kate and Gerry McCann and causing serious alarm or distress between June 2022 and February this year.

The trial continues.

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