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An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the missing girl, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, explained he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt said: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would not believe she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the relatives were left terrified and distressed by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.