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

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said investigators had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, the detective met with Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would not believe she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the family were left terrified and upset 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.

The court learned how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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