<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A Polish woman has been sentenced to six months in jail for harassing the family of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/madeleine-mccann" rel="" target="" title="missing British girl Madeleine McCann"><span>missing British girl Madeleine McCann</span></a><span> for more than two years, but was cleared of a more serious charge of stalking them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Julia Wandelt falsely claimed to be Madeleine, who disappeared in May 2007, nine days short of her fourth birthday, while on holiday with her family in Portugal's Algarve region.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors told jurors at Leicester Crown Court that there was "unequivocal scientific evidence" Wandelt had no familial link to the McCanns, which prompted her to sob in the dock.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/madeleine-mccann-update-suspect-christian-brueckner-tries-to-confront-prosecutor-hans-christian-wolters/191edac9-b244-4dc2-88f9-6501fbcbafdf" rel="" target="" title="Madeleine McCann suspect tries to confront prosecutor"><strong><span>Madeleine McCann suspect tries to confront prosecutor</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wandelt, 24, was charged with stalking Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, including through emails, messages and phone calls, from June 2022 until her arrest in February.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She and Karen Spragg, 61, who prosecutors said supported Wandelt's claims, were both acquitted by a jury of stalking the McCanns.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wandelt was convicted of harassment and received the maximum six-month sentence, which she has already spent in custody though Judge Johannah Cutts said Wandelt had been served with a notice of deportation. She was also given an indefinite restraining order preventing her contacting the McCanns.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/madeleine-mccann-maddie-julia-wandelt-jailed-false-claims-latest-updates/22b1de23-7dd7-4a5f-a9d4-3446369e2fd7" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kate and Gerry McCann said in a statement that "we take no pleasure in the result" and asked for anyone with evidence about Madeleine's disappearance to pass it on to the police.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We hope Ms Wandelt will receive the appropriate care and support she needs and any vulnerability will not be exploited by others," they added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>McCanns tell jurors of their distrress</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kate McCann gave evidence last month saying that Wandelt made her feel distressed and "invaded" by approaching her at her house and claiming to be her daughter in December 2024.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She also said Wandelt sent a letter the following day addressed to "mum", which Kate McCann said she found "really distressing".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wandelt appeared to wipe away tears during parts of Kate McCann's evidence and wailed loudly in the dock at the end of the prosecution's questions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gerry McCann and Madeleine's younger sister Amelie also gave evidence about the impact on them of Wandelt's attempts to contact them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Wandelt, however, told jurors that she never meant to cause any harm to the McCanns and simply wanted to find out if she might be their missing daughter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I even have sympathy for them ... because they look for their child and I look for my parents," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Madeleine's parents continue to campaign to find their daughter, who would now be 22, and issue a statement each year on the anniversary of the day she went missing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The main suspect in her disappearance was released from a German prison in September after serving a seven-year sentence for an unrelated sex crime.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-teacher-shot-by-student-wins-15-million-dollar-payout/3daff3e5-d72c-4b79-b99a-e30a49c47350" target="_blank"><strong><span>US teacher shot by six-year-old student wins $15 million payout</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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