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An accused stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was excluded after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual most likely not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about contacting 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.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators had previously assessed 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 learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “Testing was conducted. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” 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 defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire 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 contest one count of stalking. The trial continues.