A 23-year-old Polish national accused of stalking the family of Madeleine McCann has been refused bail by a Crown Court judge.
A lawyer acting for Julia Wandel made an unsuccessful 15-minute bail application at Leicester Crown Court on her behalf on Friday.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC ruled that no details from the bail application can be reported, ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing listed to take place at the same court on April 22nd.
Wandel, from Lubin in south-west Poland, did not attend the hearing in person, but is understood to have followed the proceedings via a prison video-link.
Wandel is accused of stalking Kate, Gerry, Sean and Amelie McCann between January 3rd, 2024 and February 15th, 2025.
She is alleged to have attended the family home in Leicestershire on May 2nd and December 7th 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 3rd and December 29th last year.
Meanwhile, a 60-year-old woman is due to appear at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday charged as part of an investigation into the alleged stalking of the McCann family.
Karen Spragg, of Caerau, Cardiff, 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.
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.
