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A suspected stalker who asserted to be the missing girl was excluded after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, police have revealed in court.

Harassment Campaign Targeting McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz 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 turned up at their home demanding a DNA test, jurors learned during proceedings.

Police Testimony

Providing testimony on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on Operation Grange, stated he had deviated from protocol to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her conduct towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be Madeleine McCann but that: “We would not take DNA only if convinced that person was Madeleine because I did not want setting a precedent.

“If it was revealed in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had numerous individuals coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I genuinely have major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have given them false hope. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

Forensic Analysis

He said authorities had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine because of a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than the child. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police intended to detain Wandelt on harassment allegations, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken when she was apprehended”.

He declared: “Analysis occurred. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”

Court Proceedings

Proceedings revealed that in April this year, the detective visited Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the genetic markers did not match. The court learned he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt asked: “Do you sincerely wish to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he answered: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, remarking: “It was possible she would never accept she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Psychological Toll

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the family were left terrified and upset by their “disturbing” and “extremely troubling” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the two women attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how the pair made ever more strange plans” to obtain Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and stealing utensils from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

Both defendants both refute one count of stalking. The case remains active.