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A suspected stalker who asserted 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 Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is alleged to have conducted a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen flooded Kate and Gerry McCann and their older offspring, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters between 2022 and earlier this year, and appeared at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had in the past insisted to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual probably not to be Madeleine, I was anxious I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

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

DNA Comparison

He said authorities had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of dissimilar appearance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He stated: “Testing was conducted. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Jury Hearings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt under arrest 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 while speaking with her: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

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

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, remarking: “There was a possibility she would never accept she cannot be Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

During previous hearings, testimony revealed how the McCanns were left frightened and upset by their “disturbing” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to push for a DNA test.

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

The accused women both contest one count of stalking. The case remains active.