A Polish woman has been remanded into custody after being charged with stalking the parents and siblings of Madeleine McCann.

Julia Wandel, 23, who is also known as Julia Wandelt, and has claimed to be Madeleine McCann, was arrested at Bristol Airport on Wednesday.

She is accused of stalking causing serious alarm or distress against Kate McCann between May 2 last year and February 15 this year, court documents show.

Wandel has also been charged with the same offence against Madeleine’s father, Gerry between the same dates.

It is alleged she made unwanted contact with the McCanns, turned up at their address and sent letters, calls, voicemails and WhatsApp messages, which amounted to stalking.

She is also accused of stalking causing serious alarm or distress against Madeleine’s sister, Amelie between January 3 and April 21 last year.

A further charge relates to an allegation of stalking causing serious alarm or distress against Madeleine’s brother, Sean between November 27 and December 29 last year.

Appearing at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, the defendant spoke in English to say her full name was Julia Wandel ‘according to court documents’, gave her date of birth and gave no indication as to her pleas. She also confirmed that she did not have an address in the UK.

The court heard Wandel, of Lubin, Poland, is alleged to have attended the family home on May 2 and December 7 last year.

It was also told the defendant sent Amelie and Sean Instagram messages between January 3 and December 29 last year. 

The court heard Madeleine’s parents were not present, and Wandel allegedly delivered a letter to their address. 

Prosecutor Ravinder Daroch told the court Wandel is alleged to have made ‘persistent’ contact with the McCanns since 2022, which allegedly ‘increased in frequency and became more alarming’.

She said the defendant is accused of attempting to make the McCanns aware ‘she was their missing daughter, Madeleine’.

Wandel is alleged to have travelled to the annual vigil held in Rothley, Leicestershire, last year which marks the anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Ms Daroch said that Wandel was told by the Metropolitan Police in June last year to desist from all contact with the McCann family, but she continued to reach out to them.

She added that voicemails were left for them and that she had attended their address in October and again in January.

Ms Daroch said that Wandel also tried to contact Amelie on social media, and created a WhatsApp group including Kate McCann’s number so she could continue to send her messages ‘directly and indirectly stating that she was her daughter’.

The prosecutor added: ‘She then gained circulation by Instagram, and other social media in what amounted to ‘a degree of fixation’.

Ms Daroch said Wandel had already travelled from Poland and there were substantial grounds to believe that she may commit further offences, causing more distress,if freed on bail.

She added that she also represented ‘a flight risk’.

Glen Harris, defending Wandel said: ‘We will be applying for bail, but not today. We will be applying in due course at the Crown Court.’

Mr Harris emphasises that Wandel was arrested at Bristol Airporton her arrival in the UK, rather than when she was leaving.

Presiding magistrate Veena Raja said: ‘The bench agree that given the nature of the case and the seriousness of the offences, these matters should be tried at the Crown Court.’

Ms Raja added: ‘The bench will remand the defendant in custody because we believe there are substantial grounds that the defendant will fail to surrender, as she comes from Poland, and there is a risk of offending further.’

The Polish national claimed to be the missing girl on Instagram in 2023, but a DNA test said she was Polish with some Lithuanian and Romanian heritage.

Wandel, who had long blonde hair and was wearing a cream coloured top and brown trousers, was remanded into custody to appear for a plea hearing at Leicester Crown Court on April 7.

Leicestershire Police confirmed that a 60-year-old woman from Wales who was arrested with her at Bristol Airport has since been released on police bail.

Both women were arrested on suspicion of stalking Mr and Mrs McCann who live in Leicestershire, according to a media representative for Wandel.

The arrests happened after Wandel arrived on a Ryanair flight from her home city of Wroclaw in south-west Poland.

The pair were arrested by Avon and Somerset Police on behalf of Leicestershire Police, and later transported for questioning at a custody suite in Leicester

It is believed that both women will have been automatically DNA tested on their arrest, as is standard procedure for all people arrested in the UK for ‘recordable’ offences.

Stalking is a treated as a recordable offence in the UK, meaning that the genetic details of them both will apparently be stored on the national police DNA database.

It will enable officers to conclusively see if there is any truth to Wandel’s suggestion that she may be Madeleine by comparing her sample to those for Madeleine or her immediate family.

Wendel, whose media appearances are being managed by Surjit Singh Clair, became an internet sensation in February 2023 when she posted to Instagram under the account name ‘@IAmMadeleineMcCann’.

She has appeared on U.S talk show ‘Dr Phil’ to discuss the possibility that she is Madeleine, who vanished aged three after being snatched by an intruder who broke into her family’s holiday villa in Praia de Luz in Portugal in 2007.

She this week took to her new social media account, ‘@AmIJuliaWandelt’, to share the ‘results’ of a fresh DNA test.

The results, she said, were submitted to a ‘world expert’ who compared them to the crime scene following Madeleine’s disappearance.

She alleges experts have also matched her eyes, teeth and voice with those of the missing girl.

Wandel’s representative, Surjit Singh Clair, confirmed news of the arrest on Wednesday evening and said: ‘I’m trying to find out what’s happened but it appears Julia has been arrested at Bristol Airport this evening just after she got off the plane.

‘The police have reportedly arrested her on an allegation of stalking and harassing the McCanns.’

In her numerous posts to Instagram last week, Wandel said her ‘source’ believes the genetic evidence ‘strongly supports’ her claims.

Madeleine’s disappearance one of the world’s biggest ever missing person inquiries, and her fate remains unknown to this day.

A Leicestershire Police statement said: ‘A woman has been charged with stalking offences following her arrest at Bristol Airport on Wednesday (19 February).

‘Julia Wandel – also known as Julia Wandelt – 23, of Lubin, Poland, has been charged with four counts of stalking.

‘Two counts relate to offences between 2 May 2024 and 15 February 2025, a third count relates to offences between 3 January 2024 and 21 April 2024, and the fourth count for offences between 27 November 2024 and 29 December 2024.

‘She has been remanded in custody to appear at Leicester Magistrates’ Court today (Friday 21 February).

‘The 60-year-old, from Wales, arrested on suspicion of stalking, has been released on police bail.’