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A suspected stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was ruled out after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about contacting the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the officer met with Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would never accept she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the relatives were left scared and distressed by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.