The mother of missing Madeleine McCann has described to a court how it was painful to hear an alleged stalker address her as “mum,” while claiming to be her missing daughter.
Giving evidence from behind a screen, McCann stated that the behavior of the 24-year-old defendant left her terrified and deeply troubled. The accused is alleged to have carried out a two-and-a-half year harassment campaign that culminated with her detainment in February.
Wandelt is charged with frequently referring to Kate as “mum” on several instances, while claiming she was the missing girl, who was three when she disappeared during a family holiday in the Portuguese resort in the year 2007.
This included a letter signed “Madeleine x.”
“That was an example of a thing that was affecting me deeply,” she testified. “It’s obvious the thing I desire above all … is for my daughter to be back and for her to be calling me ‘mum’. And that was extremely painful for me.”
McCann continued, “Calling me as ‘mum’ is difficult.”
The court heard that Wandelt and her alleged accomplice, Karen Spragg from Wales, had overwhelmed the family with repeated communications and were lingering near their house on the evening of December 7th.
When Kate McCann exited her car alone, she recalled a voice calling out in the darkness saying “Kate.”
“I was aware it was someone behind me but I was unsure who it was,” she said. “It startled me.”
When she turned, she identified Wandelt “almost immediately” from pictures previously received, McCann testified. “Her image was firmly planted in my mind in any case because of the extensive contact,” she noted.
“I was alarmed and when I understood who it was I felt very upset. I think I’d been on edge anyway with the ongoing messages and it just came to a head.”
She said she managed to get inside the house even though Wandelt “reaching out trying to prevent her closing the door.”
The pair had been demanding a genetic analysis, something Kate clarified she would have been cannot perform without the participation of the police, who had previously dismissed the possibility that Wandelt was her daughter.
She said she had not wanted to indulge the women, but acknowledged she had experienced a moment of doubt.
“I think because the ongoing contact was getting to be so much, a little bit of my brain was saying ‘could it be?’, even though I was certain …
“I suppose having seen a picture of her, and her Polish background, nothing made any sense.
“I can’t say what my daughter looks like now, but if I saw a photo of her, I would know her instantly.
“When I say there was a doubt, it was tiny.”
Madeleine’s father was questioned regarding the identical incident in court on Wednesday afternoon. He had come home after his wife to be faced with the defendants, which he labeled “very unpleasant.”
He further mentioned being certain the accused was not his lost child and said that at a certain moment he had picked up the call to her.
“I can’t remember my exact words but I stated along the lines of: ‘You’re not Madeleine, please cease contacting us’.”
He struggled to speak through the emotion as he spoke about trying to protect his remaining children from the public attention brought by Madeleine’s case.
“Online platforms can be harmful, all the negative comments that have been posted about us and malicious content online, so obviously we wanted to try to keep them safe from that,” he said.
Kate McCann had also been emotional earlier in the day when she said it was only when the defendant contacted their adult child Amelie that they had decided to take action through authorities. Her voice broke as she noted that Amelie and her twin brother Sean had had to deal with a lot.
The accused started crying from the dock in what seemed like an attempt to ensure McCann could hear her. She was ushered to the back of the dock, where she shouted: “What is the reason for this treatment?” She was taken through the door that goes to the cells and her crying could be audible echoing in the corridor.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Proceedings are ongoing.
Elara is a financial strategist with over a decade of experience in wealth management and entrepreneurship.
