The great aunt of Madeleine McCann told a jury she was ‘stunned’ when an alleged stalker attended the family’s annual vigil – and insisted there was ‘no way’ she was the missing toddler.

Janet Kennedy was giving evidence in the stalking trial of Julia Wandelt, who bombarded Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, with phone calls, letters and messages after insisting she was their daughter – and even confronted the couple at the family home in Rothley, Leics, to demand a DNA test.

Prosecutors say the 24-year-old carried out a ‘well-planned campaign of harassment’ against the McCanns that lasted almost three years, and was later joined by ‘supporter and confidante’ Karen Spragg, 61, who adopted her bogus claims ‘with gusto’.

Wandelt’s alleged actions also included unwanted attempts to contact Madeleine’s younger twin siblings, Amelie and Sean McCann, who are now 20, via social media – and attending a vigil in Rothley in a bid to speak to the family.

Giving evidence at Leicester Crown Court today, Mrs Kennedy said she had been close to the McCanns since they moved to the East Midlands area, and used to babysit Madeleine and the twins.

The pensioner also arranges the annual vigil in the centre of their home village which takes place every year on May 3 to mark the anniversary of her disappearance.

She added that last year, Kate and Gerry ‘unusually’ didn’t attend as they were away on a break – but that at the end of the service, she was approached by the minister of the Baptist church where the vigil had been held to say someone was there who ‘wanted to speak to a family member’.

Wandelt confronted her and gave her an envelope with information ‘that would prove she was Madeleine’ when she appeared at the vigil on May 3 last year.

Mrs Kennedy told the jury: ‘She said that she was Madeleine and that she was sorry that the McCanns weren’t there, but she wished me to give them some information and she presented me with an envelope with information in that would prove she was Madeleine.

‘I was rather stunned by her approach. I looked at her and thought “she is not Madeleine”. There’s just no way she could be Madeleine at all.

‘I think one’s recognition of someone is something that is intuitive. You just know the person. The essential person that Madeleine is – was – was not there.

Madeleine McCann (pictured) disappeared while on a family holiday in Portugal’s Algarve at the age of three in 2007, in one of the most widely reported missing child cases in history

Polish national Julia Wandelt (pictured), 24, is accused of stalking Kate and Gerry McCann for almost three years

Kate and Gerry McCann, pictured at the annual prayer vigil in their home village of Rothley, Leicestershire, to mark the 18th anniversary of the disappearance of their daughter Madelein

‘Even though Madeleine was nearly four when she was abducted and now I’m now meeting someone 17 years later, the essential person would still be recognisable – even though the years had moved on.

‘Over the years since Madeleine has been abducted, there have been a lot of comments, people talking to me on the phone, and coming to the village.

‘And when Julia said she was Madeleine and I looked at her and the pallor of (her) skin, and (she is) Polish, there are distinct differences, and the eyes as well – the eyes didn’t look like Madeleine’s eyes. So I couldn’t accept that.’

Prosecutors allege Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, peddled the myth that she was Madeleine – who went missing in Portugal in 2007 – while stalking the girl’s parents by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address.

Mrs Kennedy said Wandelt was ‘insistent’ and had a ‘determination’ about giving her the envelope, and said the Polish national had been ‘dismissive’ when she suggested taking it to the police.

Mrs Kennedy added: ‘On the other hand, she was somebody I had not met before. I did not know her state of mind. I was a bit apprehensive but tried to stay courteous and calm.

‘I think it was just being confronted by the person who’s claiming to be someone that I know she wasn’t.

LISTEN: The Trial of the ‘McCann Stalkers’. Listen to the latest on this Daily Mail podcast

Karen Spragg, 60, pictured arriving at Leicester Magistrates Court earlier this year

Madeleine McCann is seen beaming in a family photo before her disappearance in 2007

‘I could see the repercussions of this because there had been, before this, some media attention given to her – this was yet another upsetting experience that the family would have to go through.’

Mrs Kennedy told the court that she took the letter and kept it until Mrs McCann, who refused to read it, felt ‘ready to be able to look at it’.

The court heard that Wandelt didn’t threaten Mrs Kennedy verbally or physically, but that her manner was ‘insistent’.

She added: ‘She handed out the envelope and insisted I give it to them. There was a kind of determination about it. ‘I think she was clearly upset that Kate and Gerry were not present. I think she had maybe built herself up so she was able to talk to them, and was maybe disappointed they weren’t there.’

The witness continued: ‘Eventually, it would have been towards the end of that year, I did dispose of it – I tore it up.

‘By this time Julia was visiting the house and bombarding Kate and Gerry with emails and phone calls – it was becoming insistent and frequent.’

Asked what set Wandelt apart from other people who claimed to be Madeleine, Mrs Kennedy added: ‘To the best of my knowledge I think she is the only one who has pursued it to the extent she has.

‘I think they felt they really couldn’t be sure what the outcome would be in terms of their own personal safety.

‘Certainly it has been very traumatic, the last year or so.’

Mrs Kennedy went on to describe herself as a ‘confidante in many ways’ to her niece,  – adding: ‘She is like a daughter to me’.

Kate and Gerry McCann shortly after their daughter’s disappearance

The court heard Wandelt and Spragg had allegedly considered following Mr and Mrs McCann to a restaurant to steal any cutlery they used to get DNA that would ‘prove’ Wandelt was really Madeleine

She said of the interaction with Wandelt at the vigil last year: ‘I think she built herself up that she would have been able to talk to them (the McCanns). I did not feel in any way threatened by her.’

Reverend Robert Gladstone, the vicar of Rothley Parish Church, also met Wandelt at the vigil and said he ‘instantly’ ruled out the fact she could be Madeleine.

He told the court: ‘From what I know of Kate and Gerry and having seen Sean and Amelie grow up, I don’t know polite word to use – but physically she bore no resemblance to the McCann family and I didn’t see how she could be related.’

The jury later heard from Det Con Mark Draycott, who worked on Operation Grange – the Met Police’s investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance – between 2011 and March this year.

He said he first spoke to Wandelt in 2022, when she called a hotline from a psychiatric hospital to say she was the missing youngster and then emailed in a photo and a series of points that ‘proved’ her case.

The detective subsequently called her back to ‘reassure her she was not Madeleine McCann’.

Det Con Draycott said he told Wandelt they had ‘been over materials and used professional expertise to confirm she was not Madeleine’, adding: ‘She was very grateful for the call and was relieved she was not Madeleine McCann.’

However, he was forced to speak to her again two years later at the instruction of Det Ch Insp Mark Cranwell – the senior investigating officer of Operation Grange – after learning she had attended the vigil and was claiming once more to be Madeleine.

He told the court: ‘She was told in no uncertain terms she was not Madeleine McCann, and her DNA would not be sent off for testing.

‘She was given advice but would not accept it and vowed to carry on her belief that she was Madeleine.’

Karen Spragg, who is also on trial, is pictured arriving at Leicester Crown Court

She is accused of turning up at Gerry and Kate McCann’s Leicestershire home with co-accused Julia Wandelt (pictured), 23, a Polish woman who has claimed to be the couple’s missing daughter Madeleine

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. Pictured: Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann

However, a recording of the call was made by Wandelt, and subsequently published on a true crime YouTube podcast.

It was also played to the jury, with Det Con Draycott heard to tell her: ‘All I am going to say is what I said back in 2022 – you are not Madeleine McCann, ok?

‘I know that is hard to hear and I know you have been told this by many people, but you have to accept we have worked on this investigation since 2011.’

Wandelt then became upset when the officer told her her DNA hadn’t been sent off for testing because ‘we can’t spend public money on something like that’.

She responded: ‘I remember many things. I don’t know how you can say I am not Madeleine without any testing.’

But Det Con Draycott said: ‘We know you are not Madeleine, and you’re not the first person… We are happy, we are satisfied that you are not Madeleine McCann.

‘You’re one of many, I am going to say, hundreds of people that say they are Madeleine McCann.

‘You have had treatment for many years for mental health treatment.

‘You have got to accept you having loving parents and family back home. They are your family. You are not Kate and Gerry’s daughter.

‘There is nothing else I can say. I know I am not going to change your mind.’

The detective was then heard to warn Wandelt that she could be arrested for harassment if she visited Rothley again.

Det Con Draycott said in 2022 there were just four detectives on Operation Grange. He described the team as ‘very small’.

Under cross-examination from Tom Price KC, defending Wandelt, he said they quickly decided she was not Madeleine after studying photos she sent them and comparing them with the missing girl and ‘assessing the information she sent through’.

He added: ‘We were already aware of the condition in Madeleine’s eye.

‘We were able to make that professional opinion relating to that.

‘The experts said it wouldn’t have faded in that time. The medical expertise is that it couldn’t move and couldn’t fade. We had already worked on facial recognition.’

Det Con Draycott said in 2022 there were just four detectives on Operation Grange. He described the team as ‘very small’.

Under cross-examination from Tom Price KC, defending Wandelt, he said they quickly decided she was not Madeleine after studying photos she sent them and comparing them with the missing girl and ‘assessing the information she sent through’.

He added: ‘We were already aware of the condition in Madeleine’s eye.

‘We were able to make that professional opinion relating to that.

‘The experts said it wouldn’t have faded in that time. The medical expertise is that it couldn’t move and couldn’t fade. We had already worked on facial recognition.’

Wandelt and Karen Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking.

The trial continues.