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An alleged stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish citizen bombarded 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 visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be Madeleine McCann 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 a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

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

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt under arrest and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included searching the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Wandelt and Spragg both contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.