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

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a pattern of threatening behavior against the relatives of Madeleine, who disappeared from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish citizen overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid 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 anxious I would have had many persons 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 raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and difficult for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective saw Wandelt in custody and informed her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “It was possible she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and distressed by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women 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 searching the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.