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An accused stalker who asserted to be the abducted child was excluded after a secret DNA test proved conclusively she was not Madeleine McCann, investigators stated in court.

Targeted Behavior Towards McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, 24, is accused of a campaign of harassment against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday destination in Portugal in 2007 as a three-year-old.

The Polish national overwhelmed Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with countless communications, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and visited their home requesting a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Testifying on Tuesday, the lead detective on Madeleine's disappearance, stated he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “intending she may stop her behavior towards the McCann family”.

The senior officer said thirteen individuals had in the past insisted 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 became known in the media I had taken DNA from someone quite likely not to be Madeleine, I was concerned I would have had many persons coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about reaching out to the family to say I aim 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 investigators had already judged Wandelt not to be Madeleine due to a lack of resemblance and that she was older by two years than Madeleine. But, he said, after discovering Leicester police planned to arrest Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken during detention”.

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

Legal Testimony

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

Evidence showed that throughout their discussion, Wandelt said: “Do you really want to find Madeleine?”, and the detective told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said even with the results, he believed Wandelt “would suggest we have interfered with the sample”, stating: “It was possible she would not believe she isn't Madeleine notwithstanding scientific proof.”

Emotional Distress

In prior court sessions, jurors learned how the relatives were left frightened and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as both defendants attempted to demand a DNA test.

The court learned how both women made ever more strange plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that the McCanns dined at.

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