🔗 Share this article

An accused stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was ruled out after a covert DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from a Portuguese resort in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Police Testimony

Testifying on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, said he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said 13 people had in the past insisted to be the abducted child 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 a person most likely not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I aim to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been very traumatic and hard for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on criminal accusations, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

He said: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Jurors learned that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt under arrest and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. Jurors were told 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 responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would never accept she is not Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

Earlier in the trial, testimony revealed how the family were left terrified and upset by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

Jurors heard how both women made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that they had eaten in.

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