The mother recounts deep anguish caused by accused harasser calling her ‘mum’ in court
Kate McCann has told the hearing how she found it deeply upsetting to hear an alleged stalker call her “mum,” as she insisted to be her missing daughter.
Testifying from behind a screen, McCann stated that the actions of the 24-year-old defendant left her terrified and distressed. Wandelt is said to have engaged in a two-and-a-half year harassment campaign that culminated with her arrest in early this year.
Wandelt is accused with repeatedly calling McCann as “mum” on multiple occasions, while claiming she was the missing girl, who was three when she disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz in the year 2007.
Among these communications was a letter ended “Madeleine x.”
“That was an example of a thing that was affecting me deeply,” McCann testified. “It’s clear the thing I desire above all … is for my daughter to be back and for her to be calling me ‘mum’. And that was really stressful for me.”
McCann continued, “Referring to me as ‘mum’ is hard.”
Confrontation at their residence
The court heard that the defendant and her alleged accomplice, a 61-year-old woman from Wales, had overwhelmed the family with repeated communications and were lingering near their house on the evening of December 7th.
When Kate McCann got out of her car by herself, she recalled a voice calling out in the darkness saying “Kate.”
“I knew it was someone behind me but I didn’t know who it was,” she said. “I got a fright.”
Turning round, she recognised Wandelt “pretty quickly” from pictures previously received, she said. “She was quite vivid in my mind in any case because of all the communications,” she added.
“I was alarmed and when I understood who it was I felt quite distressed. I think I’d been anxious already with all the communication and it just bubbled up.”
McCann stated she managed to get inside the house even though Wandelt “putting her hands out trying to prevent her closing the door.”
Demand for testing and moment of doubt
Both women had been demanding a DNA test, something Kate said she would have been cannot perform without the participation of the police, who had already ruled out the possibility that the defendant was her daughter.
She admitted she had avoided encouraging the women, but confessed she had experienced a brief hesitation.
“I think because [the alleged harassment] was getting to be so much, a small part of my brain was saying ‘could it be?’, even though I knew …
“I suppose having seen a picture of her, and she’s Polish, none of it made any sense.
“I can’t say what my daughter looks like now, but if I viewed an image of her, I would know her instantly.
“When I say there was a niggle, it was tiny.”
Madeleine’s father gives evidence about that night
Madeleine’s father was asked about the same evening in court on the following day. He had returned later than Kate to be confronted by the two women, which he described as “pretty horrible.”
He further mentioned being sure the accused was not his lost child and said that at one point he had answered the phone to her.
“I can’t remember my precise phrasing but I said something like: ‘You are not my daughter, please stop calling’.”
He found it difficult to talk through the visible distress as he discussed trying to protect his other two children from the spotlight brought by Madeleine’s case.
“Online platforms can be really damaging, all the horrible things that have been written about us and nasty stuff online, so naturally we aimed to protect them from that,” he expressed.
Emotional testimony and courtroom outburst
She had also been visibly moved earlier in the day when she said it was only when the defendant contacted their adult child her daughter that they had chosen to pursue things through authorities. Her voice broke as she explained that Amelie and her brother her son had had to deal with a lot.
The accused started crying from the dock in what seemed like an effort to make certain Kate could hear her. She was escorted to the rear of the dock, where she exclaimed: “Why are you doing this to me?” She was taken through the door that goes to the holding area and her weeping could be audible echoing in the hallway.
Wandelt and Spragg have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Proceedings are ongoing.
