'All I wanted was DNA test and to talk to Kate'

A WOMAN accused of posing as Madeleine McCann and stalking her family told a court why she persisted with her efforts to get a DNA test.

- By Sophie Robinson

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have stalked Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, making calls and turning up at their home.

Wandelt, from Lubin, in Poland, had allegedly claimed she was Madeleine, who disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007, aged three.

Tears

Leicester Crown Court previously heard that Wandelt called and messaged Mrs McCann more than 60 times in one day in April last year.

Defence barrister Tom Price KC asked her why she “persisted” in trying to contact Mrs McCann after receiving no response.

Wandelt told the court: “I thought that DNA should be done. It should have been done in the beginning and I didn’t understand. I thought it was because of the media, because of what they said about me.