A forensic expert has told Leicester Crown Court that DNA from Madeleine McCann's pillowcase does not match that of Julia Wandelt, a Polish woman accused of stalking the McCann family. The sample was taken from a pillowcase recovered from Madeleine's home in Rothley, Leicestershire, 11 days after she disappeared in 2007.
Forensic scientist Rosalyn Hammond stated that the DNA profiles from the pillowcase and Wandelt are different, concluding that 'Julia Wandelt cannot be Madeleine McCann'. She explained that out of 32 components, only seven matched, which 'writes off the possibility that DNA is from the same person'.
The court also heard that Wandelt, 24, from Lubin in south-west Poland, is not the biological child of Kate and Gerry McCann. Hammond confirmed that the DNA profile attributed to Madeleine matches that of a blood sample taken shortly after her birth and is consistent with being the biological child of the McCanns.
Prosecutors allege that Wandelt, along with co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, stalked the McCanns by sending emails, making phone calls, and turning up at their address between June 2022 and February this year. Wandelt has claimed to be Madeleine, who went missing during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
Both Wandelt and Spragg deny one count of stalking. The trial continues.
