Kate McCann was left distressed after being confronted on her driveway by two women accused of stalking her, including a Polish national who has falsely claimed to be Madeleine McCann, she told a court.
Giving evidence against Karen Spragg, 61, and 24-year-old Julia Wandelt, who both deny stalking, Mrs McCann said she first became aware of communications from the younger defendant around three years ago.
Prosecutors allege Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, peddled the myth that she herself was Madeleine – who went missing in Portugal in 2007 – while stalking the missing girl’s parents by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address.
Wandelt and Spragg, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, deny a count of stalking causing serious alarm and distress to Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry between June 2022 and February this year.
Giving evidence on Wednesday from behind a curtain screening her from the dock at Leicester Crown Court, Mrs McCann was asked by the Crown’s barrister Michael Duck KC about a visit the defendants made to her home address in Leicestershire on December 7 last year.
Mrs McCann, who said she had been made aware by police of communications sent by Wandelt as early as June 2022, told the court: “I pulled up on the drive… it was really dark, it was the weekend, we had the gales.
“I was opening the boot to get something out and I heard someone say ‘Kate’.
“I knew it was someone behind me, but I didn’t know who it was.
“She called me mum I think, she was asking for a DNA test, ‘why won’t you do a DNA test?’ and pleading with me.”
Asked about the manner of Spragg, who had attended the address with Wandelt, Mrs McCann said: “I would say she was slightly more aggressive.
“She was a bit more kind of… ‘don’t you want to find your daughter?’.”
Asked by Mr Duck if she wanted the women there, Mrs McCann said she did not.
Mr Duck said: “Did you make that plain?”
“I did,” Mrs McCann replied. “I told them to leave. I told them I was distressed.”
Asked how the incident had made her feel, Mrs McCann added: “I felt quite distressed to be honest.
“I think I had been on edge anyway because of the recent communications from her.”
She said she phoned her husband Gerry when she managed to get inside her home and lock the door and told him what had happened.
After almost 90 minutes in the witness box, Mrs McCann was given a break by the trial judge, prompting Wandelt to begin to sob loudly in the dock and shout “why are you doing this to me?”.
Mrs McCann said she did not know whether Wandelt had been crying when she turned up at the McCanns’ family home, but said the Polish national had been “pleading” and “asking about DNA tests again”.
Tom Price KC, defending Wandelt, suggested the women left “a short time after” Mr McCann got home.
Mrs McCann said: “Not immediately, but yes. Certainly not half an hour or anything.”
Asked if they made her think that would hurt her, Mrs McCann said: “No they did not give me any indication of that.”
Mrs McCann said that she and her husband “waited for a while, calmed down a bit” before they went out that evening.
Asked about the personal impact over the last two-and-a-half years, Mrs McCann said her level of “stress and anxiety” had increased but she felt “more relaxed” after being told Wandelt had been arrested at Bristol Airport on February 19 this year.
Mrs McCann said: “I feel like it has escalated, the level of stress and anxiety it’s caused me has increased over that time.
“I would say it’s only since February 19 you notice a change, you actually feel more relaxed.”
During Mrs McCann’s evidence, details of a letter posted to her home a day after Spragg and Wandelt attended the property was read to the court.
The start of the letter read: “Dear Mum (Kate), I’m so sorry for causing you so much distress, but when I saw you yesterday, my emotions were so strong.
“I felt a close connection to you. All I want is to find out the truth I have memories and I have gathered a lot of evidences supporting my case.
“I think that inside your heart you believe and know who I am and I am your daughter.”
Jurors were also told that Wandelt attended a vigil on May 3 2024 held in Madeleine’s home village, at which Mr and Mrs McCann were not present.
Asked how she felt about hearing Wandelt, who is said to have handed a letter to Madeleine’s great-aunt, had attended the event, Mrs McCann told the jury: “If I am honest I was relieved we weren’t there.
“It (the annual vigil) is quite a hard but positive experience. It would have taken away from the actual reason we were there.”
Mr Duck also questioned Mrs McCann about a voicemail message left on her phone by Wandelt that asked the McCanns for a DNA test to be carried out.
Asked if that was something she or her husband had a willingness or desire to do, Mrs McCann said she “almost” wanted a DNA test to be carried out because of the persistence of Wandelt’s behaviour, even though she had seen photographs and “knew it wasn’t her”.
The trial continues.
