DNA from Madeleine’s pillowcase ‘does not match alleged McCann stalker’

The alleged stalker of the McCann family does not match a DNA sample from Madeleine’s pillowcase taken from her home in the days after she disappeared, a forensic expert has told a court.

Jurors at Leicester Crown Court also heard that Polish national Julia Wandelt, 24, who has claimed to be the missing girl, “is not the biological child of Kate and Gerry McCann”.

Wandelt, from Lubin in south-west Poland, sat silently in the dock on Monday while forensic scientist Rosalyn Hammond told the court that there is “not a match” between Wandelt’s and Madeleine’s DNA profiles.

Ms Hammond, who has been involved in Madeleine’s case since 2012, said: “The profiles from the two samples are different so Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann.

“There are seven areas where they have the same component, out of 32. They happen to have the same component designation.”

She said the full result “writes off the possibility that DNA is from the same person”.

Prosecutors allege Wandelt peddled the myth that she was Madeleine, who went missing in 2007 during a family holiday in Portugal, while stalking Mr and Mrs McCann, by sending emails, making phone calls and turning up at their address between June 2022 and February this year.

The court previously heard Wandelt’s DNA sample was taken by police after she was arrested at Bristol Airport in February this year, in an attempt to “stop her behaviour” towards the youngster’s family.

A statement from forensic officer Sarah Measures, which was read to the court, said she went to the McCanns’ home address in Rothley, Leicestershire, on May 14 2007, 11 days after Madeleine’s disappearance.

Ms Measures said “a white embroidered pillowcase” was recovered from Madeleine’s bedroom, and a DNA sample was taken from it.

DNA from a blood sample taken shortly after Madeleine was born was also obtained by police after she went missing, and matches the profile from the pillowcase, the jury heard.

Questioned about the comparison of Madeleine’s DNA with Mr and Mrs McCanns’ samples, Ms Hammond said: “These results are exactly what I would expect to see if the DNA which has been attributed to Madeleine came from the biological child of Kate McCann and Gerry McCann.”

But after comparing Wandelt’s DNA to the McCanns, Ms Hammond said: “The DNA profile of Julia Wandelt shows she is not the biological child of Kate and Gerry McCann, and neither is she the biological child of either one of them.

“There are some subtle scientific nuances when we are doing the comparisons, but looking across the whole profile I was satisfied Julia Wandelt is not the biological child of Kate and Gerry McCann.”

The court heard Wandelt has claimed to have a nearly 70% DNA match with a sample taken from where Madeleine disappeared in Praia da Luz.

Ms Hammond said the results “strongly favour the proposition Julia Wandelt is not the biological child of the person who left the floor DNA profile”.

Wandelt and her co-defendant 61-year-old Karen Spragg, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking.

The trial continues.