'DNA proved alleged stalker not Madeleine'

DNA samples taken by police from the alleged stalker of the McCann family conclusively prove she is not missing Rothley girl Madeleine, a trial has heard.

- By SOPHIE ROBINSON, PA

Jurors at Leicester Crown Court were told that 24-year-old Julia Wandelt's DNA was taken after she was arrested at Bristol Airport in February, in an attempt to "stop her behaviour" towards the family.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, the senior investigating officer for Operation Grange, the ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation into Madeleine's 2007 disappearance from an apartment in Portugal, said that 12 people have claimed to be the missing girl but their DNA samples were not taken because it may "set a precedent".

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Cranwell 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'.