Woman charged with stalking Madeleine McCann's family

27 March 2025, 18:50 | Updated: 27 March 2025, 21:37

A 60-year-old woman has been charged as part of an investigation into the alleged stalking of Madeleine McCann's family.

Karen Spragg, of Caerau, Cardiff, has been charged with one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, Leicestershire Police said.

The alleged offence is said to have happened between 3 May 2024 and 21 February 2025.

Police said she was arrested on Thursday and is due to appear at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Friday.

As part of the same investigation, Julia Wandel, 23, is also scheduled to appear at a court in the city the same day.

Wandel, from Lubin in Poland, was arrested at Bristol Airport last month, charged with four counts of stalking and remanded in custody.

She is alleged to have gone to the McCanns's home, as well as making calls and sending a letter and WhatsApp messages.

Madeleine's disappearance on holiday in Portugal in May 2007 remains one of the world's most well-known missing person cases.

The three-year-old vanished after her parents left her and her siblings in bed as the couple had dinner nearby.

The pair, from Leicestershire, have criticised Portuguese authorities for their investigation into her abduction.

The man suspected of kidnapping her will not face any charges in the foreseeable future, a prosecutor told Sky News earlier this year.

(c) Sky News 2025: Woman charged with stalking Madeleine McCann's family