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An alleged stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was excluded after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, twenty-four, is accused of a pattern of threatening behavior against the family of Madeleine, who disappeared from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish citizen 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 appeared at their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had earlier asserted to be the abducted child 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 from a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and difficult for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He said: “Analysis occurred. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt under arrest and informed her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said notwithstanding the evidence, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There existed a chance she would never accept she isn't Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left frightened and upset by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how the defendants made ever more strange plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.