Warning: Some readers may find some of the content distressing
Julia Wandelt has been giving evidence at Leicester Crown Court, where she is on trial accused of stalking the family of Madeleine McCann
The 24-year-old, from Lubin in south-west Poland, has repeatedly claimed she is missing Madeleine, who disappeared in 2007
Miss Wandelt said she "did everything before" contacting the McCann family
She told the court she found the Madeleine McCann case on a missing persons database after suspecting she may have been adopted
The defendant says she has had long-term issues related to self-harm and suicidal thoughts
Miss Wandelt and Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau, Cardiff, deny stalking Kate and Gerry McCann, causing serious alarm and distress between June 2022 and February 2025
Miss Wandelt said she first became aware of Madeleine McCann in June 2022.
She discovered her name by going through missing person databases.
Having found the case, she decided to look into it more by joining a number of Facebook groups dedicated to the search for the missing girl and by looking into the Find Madeleine website.
Miss Wandelt said she only looked into another missing girl, Acacia Bishop, for a short period of time having been told by authorities she was not Madeleine McCann.
She contacted a Polish missing persons charity, stating she was the missing American girl.
But later, she said she found out Acacia had a distinctive birth mark, and so dropped the idea.
Miss Wandelt said she first found out about another missing girl, Inga Gehricke, after posting about her story on social media but "never" said she was the same person.
In the first weeks of the trial, prosecution barristers have set out their case against Miss Wandelt and Mrs Spragg (pictured below).
Jurors were told the pair carried out a "campaign of harassment" against Kate and Gerry McCann.
The prosecution said Miss Wandelt repeatedly claimed she was Madeleine, and had been abducted and transported to Poland.
From June 2022, Miss Wandelt had begun tell "anyone who would care to listen" she was Madeleine, the court heard.
The trial was told the Polish national had tried to call the hospital where the McCanns worked and contact them directly on email.
The pair then went to the McCanns' home in Leicestershire in December 2024, the prosecution said.
Image source, PA Media/BBCWarning: Some readers may find some of the below content distressing
Miss Wandelt has told the court she was abused as a child by her step-grandfather at about nine years old.
She said she told her grandmother in 2010, and she told her not to tell anyone.
Her step-grandfather was convicted and later sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the court heard.
This abuse, Miss Wandelt said, left her feeling suicidal.
Miss Wandelt told Leicester Crown Court she was admitted to hospital in May 2022, at which point she found out more about her childhood from her father.
She told jurors she called her father to try and find out why she was in "such a dark place" in her life.
It was at this point she started to search for missing children online to "check if there were any missing children my age".
She said she looked on databases and used search criteria to see if anyone matched her age and appearance.
"That's how I found Madeleine," she said.
Warning: Some readers may find some of the below content distressing
Miss Wandelt has now told the court she started to see a psychologist in about 2020.
She said she had long-term issues related to self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
Miss Wandelt added she would look online, to find people who would abuse her - as part of her self-harm.
She told the court she attempted to take her own life on four occasions.
The trial previously heard Miss Wandelt has claimed to be Madeleine since 2022.
However, Leicester Crown Court has heard that DNA taken from her "conclusively proved" she is not the missing child.
DNA was taken from her on her arrest in February 2025, and the result given to her in Peterborough Prison in April.
She disputed the result when told, the court heard.
Madeleine McCann was a three-year-old girl on a family holiday in Portugal when she disappeared on 3 May 2007.
She vanished from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, sparking a Europe-wide investigation that has become one of the highest-profile missing person cases.
Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had been dining with friends at a restaurant a short walk away, while their daughter and her younger siblings were asleep in a ground-floor apartment.
They had checked in on the children periodically until her mother discovered she was missing at about 22:00 local time.
The case remains unsolved.
Image source, PA MediaMiss Wandelt said her psychologist made her "reflect on my life more and everything that happened".
The 24-year-old said she realised she had limited memories of her childhood and started questioning her upbringing.
It was at this point, she said, she started asking her parents more questions about her childhood.
When asked if she still questions her identity, Miss Wandelt replied: "Yes, I do."
When asked to confirm her full name, the 24-year-old - who is on trial with her co-defendant Karen Spragg - told jurors: "Yes, according to court documents my full name is Julia Wandelt."
Miss Wandelt, who is accused of sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at the house of the McCann family, confirmed her age and said she grew up in Wroclaw.
Miss Wandelt continues her evidence by saying that she asked her parents to do a DNA test to confirm she was their child, but they refused.
She said she thought her parents would "just agree" to the test, and was "surprised" when they declined.
Miss Wandelt told the court her parents would not show her birth certificate, but she applied to get a copy.
However, she still wanted to see the original because she "had concerns at the time I was adopted".
She said a registry officer in her birth town told her that she is not adopted without verification, which made her "question even more" the certificate.
Miss Wandelt - who the court has heard has repeatedly claimed she is missing Madeleine McCann - told the jury she does not believe she is the daughter of her parents.
Describing her parents' appearance, she said her mother had natural brown hair and brown eyes, and her father had dark hair and brown eyes as well.
She said she started to not think she was their child during 2023.
Miss Wandelt - of Jana Kochanowskiego in Lubin, Poland - has started by setting out her upbringing and education in Poland.
She said she wanted to become an X-ray technician originally.
"Because my father and his wife worked in this profession, that's why I wanted to try," she told jurors.
In 2023, she said she later applied to study criminology and started a course in October the same year.
She said because of her "personal journey", she left.
Image source, Julia WandeltDefendant Julia Wandelt is being sworn in.
She will be giving evidence to the jury this afternoon and into tomorrow.
First to ask questions is her defence barrister Tom Price KC.
Olimpia Zagnat
BBC News Online
Miss Wandelt and Mrs Spragg were both arrested in February after Miss Wandelt, a Polish national, flew into Bristol Airport.
Previously, the trial at Leicester Crown Court - where both deny the charges - heard Miss Wandelt - who has claimed to be Kate and Gerry's missing daughter since 2022 - told police: "I have asked for a DNA test, and I'm the victim here.
"They don't care about Madeleine, they don't care about me, they only care about themselves."
The jury was previously told a DNA test was taken following Miss Wandelt's arrest, which "proved" she was not Madeleine.
Alex Smith
BBC News Online
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the trial of Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg, who are both charged with stalking the parents of missing Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal in 2007.
Miss Wandelt, 24, and Mrs Spragg, 61, are accused of stalking Kate and Gerry McCann, causing serious alarm and distress between June 2022 and February 2025.