Polish woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann ‘arrested as she arrives in the UK’

A Polish woman who claims to be missing British toddler Madeleine McCann has been arrested at a UK airport.

A Polish woman who controversially claims to be missing British girl Madeleine McCann has reportedly been arrested moments after arriving in the UK.

Julia Wandelt, also known as Julia Wendell, was taken in on suspicion of stalking and harassing Madeleine’s parents as she touched down at Bristol Airport, according to MailOnline

The 23-year-old had flown from Wroclaw in Poland, and was due to meet with a friend who lives in Cardiff when she was arrested, according to the outlet.

The publication reports the friend, who is thought to be aged in her 60s, was also arrested and taken away.

Wandelt’s representative, Surjit Singh Clair, told MailOnline: “I’m trying to find out what’s happened but it appears Julia has been arrested at Bristol Airport this evening just after she got off the plane.

“The police have reportedly arrested her on an allegation of stalking and harassing the McCanns.’

Julia Wandelt (R) believes she may be missing girl Madeleine McCann. Picture: Dr Fia Johansson

Earlier this week, Wandelt revealed another bombshell update hours after she released DNA test results to the public on social media.

She posted to her Instagram account screenshots of alleged documents proving there are “no medical records” filed under her name before April 2009.

The 23-year-old’s post included several different apparent search engines of medical history.

“No medical records before 1 April 2009 (when I was almost 8 years old),” she said in one slide.

“No medical records before 7 December 2009 (when I was 8 years old),” a second slide was captioned, while a third read: “no medical records before December 2010 (when I was 9 years old).”

Julia Wandelt claims to be missing child Madeleine McCann. Picture: Dr Fia Johansson

She went on to claim in a fourth slide: “No medical records before 31 January 2011 (when I was 10 years old)”.

“No medical records before 2012 (when I was 11 years old),” a final screenshot read.

McCann was aged just three when she vanished from a villa in Portugal in May 2007 during her family’s vacation. The toddler was days away from her 4th birthday.

Ms Wandelt took to Instagram on Monday claiming fresh DNA results show she is “part British and part Irish”, and not 100 per cent Polish as previous tests found.

The woman said a “world expert” has compared her DNA to the crime scene following Madeleine’s disappearance and that a source has alleged that evidence “strongly supports that Gerry McCann could be Julia Wandelt’s biological father”.

Ms Wandelt caused a sensation in February 2023 when she claimed to be the missing daughter of Kate and Gerry McCann.

She alleges she is Madeleine, who went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia de Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007. Picture: AFP

Kate and Gerry McCann have never stopped searching for their daughter. Picture: AFP

The woman even appeared on US talk show Dr Phil to discuss the possibility she was the missing child, but later apologised to the McCann family, saying she “regretted” the entire ordeal after receiving death threats.

Ms Wandelt took DNA tests at the time she first came forward with her shock claims, which confirmed she was from Poland.

The McCanns have refused to provide their DNA to compare against hers.

Ms Wandelt has previously told the BBC she was sexually abused during her childhood, and first started believing she was Madeleine McCann after seeing resemblances between suspects in the case and her abuser.

She said gaps in her memory from her childhood prompted her to become suspicious about her upbringing including whether she had been adopted.

However the woman’s parents have dismissed her claims, providing childhood photographs and her birth certificate as proof that her allegations are false.

Originally published as Polish woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann ‘arrested as she arrives in the UK’