Polish woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann is charged with stalking after flying to the UK and is due in court today
A Polish woman who has suggested she may be Madeleine McCann is due to appear in court this morning after being charged with stalking.
Julia Wandel, 23, who is also known as Julia Wandelt has charged with four counts of stalking following her arrest at Bristol Airport on Wednesday.
It is believed that the charges relate to the alleged stalking of Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann, although Leicestershire Police have not confirmed this.
Wandel of Lubin, Poland, is still in custody and is due to be brought before magistrates in Leicester.
Leicestershire Police said in a statement that two of the charges she faces relate to alleged stalking between May 2, 2024, and February 15, 2025.
The third relates to alleged offences between January 3, 2024 and April 21, 2024, and the fourth to alleged acts between November 27, 2024 and December 29, 2024.
Leicestershire Police confirmed that a 60-year-old woman from Wales who was arrested with her at Bristol Airport has since been released on police bail.
Both women were arrested on suspicion of stalking Mr and Mrs McCann who live in Leicestershire, according to a media representative for Wandel.
Julia Wandel, 23, who is also known as Julia Wandelt has charged with four counts of stalking following her arrest at Bristol Airport on Wednesday
Madeleine McCann (pictured), then 3, vanished during a family holiday to Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007, which would now make her 21 – two years younger than Wandelt
It is believed that the charges relate to the alleged stalking of Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured), although Leicestershire Police have not confirmed this
The arrests happened after Wandel arrived on a Ryanair flight from her home city of Wroclaw in south-west Poland.
The pair were arrested by Avon and Somerset Police on behalf of Leicestershire Police, and later transported for questioning at a custody suite in Leicester
It is believed that both women will have been automatically DNA tested on their arrest, as is standard procedure for all people arrested in the UK for ‘recordable’ offences.
Stalking is a treated as a recordable offence in the UK, meaning that the genetic details of them both will apparently be stored on the national police DNA database.
It will enable officers to conclusively see if there is any truth to Wandel’s suggestion that she may be Madeleine by comparing her sample to those for Madeleine or her immediate family.
Wendel became an internet sensation in February 2023 when she posted to Instagram under the account name ‘@IAmMadeleineMcCann’.
She has appeared on U.S talk show ‘Dr Phil’ to discuss the possibility that she is Madeleine, who vanished aged three after being snatched by an intruder who broke into her family’s holiday villa in Praia de Luz in Portugal in 2007.
She this week took to her new social media account, ‘@AmIJuliaWandelt’, to share the ‘results’ of a fresh DNA test.
Ms Wandelt appeared on US show ‘Dr Phil’ to discuss the possibility that she is Madeleine
Madeleine’s disappearance one of the world’s biggest ever missing person inquiries. Pictured: Kate and Gerry McCann
The results, she said, were submitted to a ‘world expert’ who compared them to the crime scene following Madeleine’s disappearance.
She alleges experts have also matched her eyes, teeth and voice with those of the missing girl.
Wandel’s representative, Surjit Singh Clair, confirmed news of the arrest on Wednesday evening and said: ‘I’m trying to find out what’s happened but it appears Julia has been arrested at Bristol Airport this evening just after she got off the plane.
‘The police have reportedly arrested her on an allegation of stalking and harassing the McCanns.’
In her numerous posts to Instagram last week, Wandel said her ‘source’ believes the genetic evidence ‘strongly supports’ her claims.
Madeleine’s disappearance one of the world’s biggest ever missing person inquiries, and her fate remains unknown to this day.
A Leicestershire Police statement said: ‘A woman has been charged with stalking offences following her arrest at Bristol Airport on Wednesday (19 February).
‘Julia Wandel – also known as Julia Wandelt – 23, of Lubin, Poland, has been charged with four counts of stalking.
‘Two counts relate to offences between 2 May 2024 and 15 February 2025, a third count relates to offences between 3 January 2024 and 21 April 2024, and the fourth count for offences between 27 November 2024 and 29 December 2024.
‘She has been remanded in custody to appear at Leicester Magistrates’ Court today (Friday 21 February).
‘The 60-year-old, from Wales, arrested on suspicion of stalking, has been released on police bail.’
