🔗 Share this article

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

Harassment Campaign Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their grown-up kids, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Investigation Details

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said 13 people had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I wished to avoid setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I plan to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and hard for the family.”

Genetic Testing

He said investigators had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Court Proceedings

The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell met with Wandelt in custody and stated to her that her DNA had been tested alongside Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

The court heard that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have interfered with the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would not believe she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Family Impact

During previous hearings, the court heard how the family were left scared and upset by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to demand a DNA test.

The jury were told how the pair made progressively odd plans” to collect Kate McCann’s DNA, which included rummaging in the McCanns’ bins and removing cutlery from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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