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An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a secret DNA test proved conclusively 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 stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, the court was earlier informed.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on the missing person’s case, explained he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted to be the missing girl but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite 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 contacting the family to say I intend 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 the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers 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 “might claim we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would not believe she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the relatives were left terrified and traumatized by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made ever more strange plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

Both defendants both deny one count of stalking. The case remains active.