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A suspected stalker who asserted to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had previously claimed to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent 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 numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

During previous hearings, the court heard how the relatives were left scared and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the defendants made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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