A woman who claimed she is Madeleine McCann has been charged with harassing the missing toddler’s parents. Julia Wandelt has long said she is Gerry and Kate McCann’s missing daughter who vanished from their hotel room while on vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. Wandelt, 24, from Lubin, south-west Poland, was found not guilty of stalking but was convicted of harassment and given six months in prison on Friday. However, given she has been in custody since February Wandelt will now walk free. She was hit with an indefinite restraining order meaning she is banned from entering the county of Leicestershire and from posting anything related to the McCanns. Judge Justice Cutts said during sentencing, “It has been confirmed in this case you are not Madeleine McCann. There was not proper or logical basis for this.” Wandelt has waged a years-long campaign that involved turning up at the McCanns home, garnering huge attention in the British press. “Despite the jury’s guilty verdict of harassment, we take no pleasure in the result,” the McCanns said. “Like most people, we did not want to go through a court process and only wanted the harassment to stop.” They added, “We hope Ms Wandelt will receive the appropriate care and support she needs and any vulnerability will not be exploited by others.”
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