Julia Wandelt left voicemails telling Kate McCann, “You are my mother,” and claiming Madeleine McCann was alive, according to recordings played at Wandelt’s 2025 trial. The statements were Wandelt’s claims, not proof of her identity. She was later convicted of harassing Kate and Gerry McCann, acquitted of stalking, and sentenced to six months; co-defendant Karen Spragg was acquitted of both charges.
What did Julia Wandelt say in the voicemails?
Recordings played at Leicester Crown Court included Wandelt telling Kate McCann, “You are my mother, it’s science no one can deny it,” and saying, “I know you probably think that Madeleine is dead, but she is not,” PerthNow reported on 14 October 2025. The report said Wandelt asked for a DNA test and said she wanted to know whether she might be Madeleine.
In one voicemail quoted by The Guardian at the opening of the trial, Wandelt said: “If I’m her then everything will be OK, and if I’m not, as you probably think, then I will leave you alone.” The Guardian reported on 6 October 2025 that prosecutors described around 60 calls to Kate McCann’s number. That was a figure presented in prosecution-case reporting, not an independently audited count.
Did Wandelt claim to be Madeleine McCann?
Yes. The courtroom recordings reported by PerthNow show Wandelt asserting that she was Madeleine and invoking science in support of her claim. PerthNow also reported that one voicemail included Wandelt’s assertion of an almost 70% DNA match. That percentage was her reported claim, not a published or independently verified forensic result. The available reporting does not establish that a forensic comparison confirmed her identity.
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What was alleged at trial, and what was decided?
At the trial’s opening, The Guardian reported that Wandelt and Spragg denied the charges. Prosecutors alleged a course of calls, messages, voicemails, emails, letters and visits to the McCanns’ village and home between 1 June 2022 and 21 February 2025. Claims about Wandelt’s asserted memories and earlier identity claims were presented as prosecution allegations or trial evidence; they should not be confused with jury findings.
LBC’s verdict report said the jury convicted Wandelt of harassment of Kate and Gerry McCann but acquitted her of stalking. Spragg was found not guilty of both offences. Wandelt was sentenced to six months, which LBC reported she had already served in custody, and received a restraining order. Kate McCann told the court, as quoted by LBC, that she most wanted Madeleine “to be back and calling me mum” and that this was “the aspect that was really distressing for me.”
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What is known about deportation proceedings?
LBC reported on 10 November 2025 that the Home Office had begun deportation proceedings against Wandelt. That report establishes that proceedings had started; it does not establish that deportation occurred or what their status is as of 8 October 2026.
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