Madeleine McCann’s great-aunt has told a court she was “stunned” when an alleged stalker attended an annual vigil for the missing girl.
Janet Kennedy, who is Kate McCann’s aunt, told Leicester Crown Court she “could not accept” that Julia Wandelt was her missing great-niece when she approached her on 3 May last year.
The three-year-old disappeared on 3 May 2007 after her parents left her asleep in their holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
Throughout the trial, the court heard that Wandelt, 24, also allegedly called and messaged Kate McCann, Madeleine’s mother, 60 times in a day.
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Appearing in court on Friday, Mrs Kennedy said Wandelt confronted her and gave her an envelope with information “that would prove she was Madeleine” during the yearly gathering in Rothley, Leicestershire.
“She said that she was Madeleine and that she was sorry that the McCanns weren’t there,” the great-aunt said, “but she wished me to give them some information and she presented me with an envelope with information in that would prove she was Madeleine.
“I was rather stunned by her approach. I looked at her and thought ‘she is not Madeleine’. There’s just no way she could be Madeleine at all.”
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Mrs Kennedy then said that when Wandelt “said she was Madeleine… with the colour of your skin, you are Polish, there are distinct differences in the way people look according to where they are from”.
She added: “And the eyes as well. The eyes did not look like Madeleine’s eyes. So I could not accept that.”
The alleged stalker, from Lubin, southwest Poland, is on trial with Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road, Caerau, Cardiff.
They both deny one count of stalking Kate and Gerry McCann, causing serious alarm or distress, between June 2022 and February this year.
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The trial continues.
