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An accused stalker who insisted to be the missing girl was excluded after a secret DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Targeted Behavior Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

The Polish national flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and turned up at their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, said he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said thirteen individuals had previously claimed 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 got out in the media I had taken DNA from someone most likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about contacting the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said the police had earlier determined Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to dissimilar appearance and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “decided that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

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

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, adding: “There was a possibility she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine despite being given scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the family were left scared and traumatized by their “unnerving” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and the other accused Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to push for a DNA test.

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

The accused women both deny one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.