🔗 Share this article

An alleged stalker who insisted to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and visited their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

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

The senior officer said over a dozen persons 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 aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold 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 challenging for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than the missing girl. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt while detained and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that during their conversation, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he replied: “Yes.”

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

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left terrified and upset by their “unnerving” 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.

The court learned how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

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