A second woman has been charged in relation to the alleged stalking of Madeleine McCann’s family a month after a Polish woman who claimed she was the missing girl was arrested in the same investigation.
Cardiff woman Karen Spragg, 60, has been charged with one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress between May 3 2024 and February 21 this year, Leicestershire Police said.
She will face Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, the same day Julia Wandelt, 23, is set to return to court charged with four counts of stalking against the family.
Ms Wandelt is accused of stalking Kate, Gerry, Sean and Amelie McCann between January 3 2024 and February 15 2025.
She is alleged to have attended the family home on May 2 and December 7 last year.
She is also accused of sending a letter, calls, voicemails and WhatsApp messages to Kate and Gerry McCann, and sending Amelie and Sean McCann Instagram messages between January 3 and December 29 last year.
Madeleine McCann’s disappearance at the age of three from Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve when her family was on holiday in 2007 remains unsolved.
Ms Wandelt has previously appeared on US talk show Dr Phil with her claim, telling the host in March 2023 her mother had refused to show her proof of her pregnancy and birth, which her family denied, saying “it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie” in a statement to the show.
She apologised to Madeleine’s parents in January last year in a social media post after a DNA test in April 2023 proved she wasn’t Madeleine.
“I apologised to the McCanns because I don’t know them personally,” Ms Wandelt said. “I don’t know if they were watching this journey, if they were sad or whatever. And I just wanted to say sorry. Because every person can react in a different way and maybe it brought them more sadness,” she said.
However she claimed on her social media account in February to have acquired DNA testing linking her to Madeleine’s family.
Both Ms Spragg and Ms Wandelt were arrested at Bristol Airport late last month.
