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An alleged stalker’s claim to be Madeleine McCann was ruled out after a DNA test proved conclusively she was not the missing girl, police have revealed in court.
Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the family of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
The Polish national bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with hundreds of calls, 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.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the senior investigating officer on the missing person’s case, Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “in the hope she may stop her behaviour towards the McCann family”.
DCI Mark Cranwell said 13 people had previously claimed to be the missing girl but said: “We would not take DNA unless we believed that person was Madeleine because I did not want to set a precedent.
“If it became known in the media I had taken DNA off an individual quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.
“I genuinely have major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been quite emotionally damaging and difficult for the family.”
He said the police had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was two years older than the missing girl. But, he said, after finding out Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “made the decision that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.
He said: “A comparison took place. It conclusively proved that Julia Wandelt is not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that in April this year, Cranwell visited Wandelt in custody and told her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the profiles did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt during the visit: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”
The court heard that during their conversation, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and Cranwell told the jury he replied: “Yes.”
He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have tampered with the sample”, adding: “‘There was a possibility she would never accept she isn’t Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”
Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the family were left frightened and distressed by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to push for a DNA test.
The jury were told how the pair made “increasingly bizarre plans” to collect Kate’s McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.
Wandelt and Spragg both deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.
