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A suspected stalker who claimed to be the missing girl was excluded after a confidential DNA test established beyond doubt she was not Madeleine McCann, authorities disclosed in court.

Harassment Campaign Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, is alleged to have conducted a campaign of harassment against the parents of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The Polish citizen bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

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

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had earlier asserted to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief 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 worried I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I sincerely hold major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend 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 the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to no physical similarity and that she was older by two years than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “decided that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

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

Legal Testimony

Jurors learned that in April this year, Cranwell saw Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been matched against Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. Jurors were told he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Testimony indicated that throughout their discussion, Wandelt inquired: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “could allege we have manipulated the sample”, stating: “There existed a chance she would refuse to acknowledge she is not Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, testimony revealed how the family were left scared and traumatized by their “creepy” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her alleged accomplice Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.

The court learned how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the family visited.

Wandelt and Spragg both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.