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An accused stalker who insisted to be the abducted child was eliminated after a covert DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a stalking campaign against the parents of Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The woman from Poland overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters over a period spanning 2022 to this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the lead detective on Operation Grange, stated he had acted outside normal guidelines to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said 13 people had in the past insisted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

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

“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have built up their expectations. It could have been very traumatic and hard 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 not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He stated: “A comparison took place. It definitively established that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

The court heard that in April this year, the officer saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have tampered with the sample”, stating: “There was a possibility she would never accept she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

Earlier in the trial, jurors learned how the McCanns were left frightened and traumatized by their “creepy” and “profoundly unsettling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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