'We take no pleasure': Kate and Gerry McCann speak out after Madeleine fantasist guilty of harassment

Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, was accused of peddling the myth that she is Madeleine, who disappeared aged three in Portugal in 2007, while stalking and harassing Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, leaving voicemails, and turning up at their home.

She was handed a six-month jail sentence, but will not face any time behind bars as she had already been in custody for six months.

Kate and Gerry McCann said in a statement “we take no pleasure in the result” adding: “Like most people, we did not want to go through a court process and only wanted the harassment to stop.”

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Today, the 24-year-old was cleared of stalking the family, but found guilty of harassment.

Her co-defendant, Karen Spragg, 61, was found not guilty of stalking or harassment.

Wandelt and Spragg held hands in the dock before the verdicts were handed down, after the jury deliberated for more than seven hours.

Wandelt, who sat beside Spragg in the dock, gasped at the verdicts, while Spragg cried.

Throughout the trial, the jury heard of the distress Wandelt caused the McCann family, sending Kate personal text messages, calling her "mum" and even showing up at their family home.

Trial judge Mrs Justice Cutts pointed out immediately after the verdicts that the maximum sentence for harassment was six months’ imprisonment.

The judge said: “I think it also is a fact that Julia Wandelt has been in custody since her arrest in February of this year.

“So she will have been in custody in fact for longer than the maximum sentence.”

The judge then went on to thank the jury for their service on the trial and the “care and attention” they had brought to considering the evidence.

Kate and Gerry McCann, who were once named as suspects or “arguidos” in Madeleine’s disappearance by Portuguese investigators, both gave evidence from behind a screen during the trial.

While giving evidence, an emotional Mr McCann said he and his wife still cling on to hope that Madeleine may be alive today.

When asked about the impact of Wandelt’s false claim, Mr McCann responded: “It has many effects – we don’t know what happened to Madeleine. There’s no evidence to say she’s dead. We really hope, and we know it’s only a glimmer, that Madeleine is alive.

“When so many people claim to be our missing daughter, it inevitably pulls your heartstrings, but there is a wider effect that is more damaging.

“That’s detrimental to any existing investigation and obviously we have always put that (the inquiry) first.”

In December last year, Wandelt left a letter at the McCanns’ home in Rothley, Leicestershire, in which she wrote “Dear Mum (Kate)” and signed “Lots of love, Madeleine”.

Wandelt also called Mrs McCann “mummy” and said “you are my mother” in other messages.

Speaking in court, Mrs McCann said: “I think it’s obvious that’s the thing I want most, for Madeleine to be back and calling me mum – that was the aspect that was really distressing for me.”

Madeleine’s younger sister Amelie McCann, who had been sleeping in the Ocean Club resort apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, with her twin brother Sean when their sister disappeared, also told her side of the story.

The young woman, now aged 20 and a university student, spoke calmly about “creepy” messages she received and the distress caused to her family by Wandelt.

Miss McCann told jurors it was “upsetting” that Wandelt begged the family to believe her.

She said: “My mum really struggled with that – her saying ‘I’m your daughter’.”

Wandelt messaged the family claiming to have memories of playing ring-a-ring-a-roses, spoon-feeding Sean McCann, and living in their home.

Questioned on how she felt about Wandelt’s messages regarding Madeleine’s childhood, Miss McCann said: “It is quite disturbing that she’s coming up with these supposed memories even though she’s not Madeleine.”