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A woman accused with pursuing Kate McCann apparently recorded her a voicemail message which asked: "imagine I am Madeleine?"

The defendant, twenty-four, who court testimony revealed has repeatedly claimed she was the vanished Madeleine McCann, and Karen Spragg are facing charges charged with pursuing Kate and Gerry McCann from June 2022 and February this year.

On Monday, Leicester Crown Court learned call records and information recovered from phones recorded Ms Wandelt repeatedly requesting Madeleine's mother for a genetic test over 2023 and 2024.

Madeleine's case in 2007 - when she was three years old during a family holiday in Portugal - is one of the most widely reported missing child cases and is still open.

'I Do Not Need Money'

Another phone message, presented in court, captured Ms Wandelt stating: "I realize I'm heavy and not pretty like Madeleine used to be, but I feel what I feel."

While one recording of Ms Wandelt's monologues with Mrs McCann's answerphone expressed: "What if there is a small chance that I'm her? What happens next? Isn't that crucial for you?"

"I am not seeking money, I maintain a life here in Poland, I only wish to know," she added.

The tribunal was advised that through electronic messages, SMS messages and calls, Ms Wandelt demanded a genetic test, transmitted youth pictures to her phone in a attempt to demonstrate a resemblance to Mrs McCann's vanished daughter, and claimed to have "memories" from a childhood with the McCanns.

The investigator, a data specialist with Leicestershire Police who collated the evidence, told the court there "seemed to lack any answers" from Mrs McCann.

Ms Wandelt furthermore reached out to family friends of the McCanns, based on the phone records.

On 9 October 2024, Gerry McCann answered a call from Ms Wandelt to his wife's phone, saying she had "a wrong number."

On that occasion Ms Wandelt recorded a recording on Mrs McCann's recording saying "I will continue and I will prove my position."

The court learned the co-defendant struck up a connection online with Ms Wandelt preceding accompanying her on a visit to the McCanns' residence in that area in December 2024.

Communication data revealed Mrs Spragg had reached out via communication app to Mrs McCann to say the media had portrayed Ms Wandelt as "mentally unstable" but that she ought to be considered genuine in the period before the trip to Rothley, that area, in last December.

The court learned message exchanges between the two accused, in last November, considering trying to get Mrs McCann's biological evidence from her trash or from silverware at a dining venue.

"We need to make a stand," the co-defendant informed Ms Wandelt.

On the night of the visit to their home, the defendant sent a text which said: "We're currently sat adjacent to the McCanns' residence with our headlights off similar to investigators. I wanted to achieve this with someone else I hadn't anticipated I would be engaged in this with the McCanns."

The trial ongoing.