A woman who allegedly stalked Madeleine McCann’s family broke down in tears as she told a jury she believes she is the missing girl.
Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin, south-west Poland, is accused of peddling the myth she is Madeleine, who went missing on holiday in Portugal aged three in 2007.
Leicester Crown Court heard on Thursday that it is “blindingly obvious” Wandelt is not the missing toddler.
But Wandelt wept as she told jurors, “I do believe I’m her”.
During cross-examination, prosecutor Michael Duck KC asked the defendant: “There is no scientific evidence to connect you to the McCanns, is there?”
‘I’m just exhausted with it’
Visibly and audibly emotional, she told the court: “Actually, I don’t care anymore. If people here say I’m not, you know what, I’m OK with it. I’m just exhausted with it.
“I want to know who I am. If I’m not, I’m not. It’s fine. I’m exhausted.
“I do believe I’m her. I do remember them but I’m exhausted, I’m completely exhausted with all of this.
“If that is the conclusion, then I am willing to say I agree with this. But I am exhausted.”
Asked if she believes Madeleine’s father, Gerry, could be her father, she replied: “It’s neither no nor yes.”
‘Blindingly obvious’
Mr Duck told her: “One thing that’s blindingly obvious is that your (DNA) profile and Madeleine’s did not match.”
He then asked: “Assuming the profile is Madeleine’s, do you accept that by simply looking at it, it has nothing to do with you?”
Wandelt said: “Assuming that this belongs to Madeleine, then yes.”
Read more from the trial:
Woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann confronted parents
Alleged stalker had ‘genuine belief’ she was missing girl
Then asked why she thought the McCanns did not respond to her calls and messages, she said: “Maybe they were not allowed to. I just could not believe, and still cannot believe, the parents of a missing child don’t want to follow a lead.”
‘I wasted three-and-a-half years of my life’
She added: “But I wasted three-and-a-half years of my life working out who I am… I think I’m in the wrong place. I should not be in the witness box today.”
Wandelt and co-defendant, Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking between June 2022 and February this year.
Spragg will not be called to give evidence in her defence, the jury heard on Thursday.
The trial will continue on Monday.
