12 people claimed to be Maddie

POLICE investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance have been contacted by a dozen people claiming to be the missing girl, a court heard.

- BY MARTIN FRICKER

Det Chief Insp Mark Cranwell, who heads up Operation Grange, the Met's probe into the case, said all 12 had been ruled out.

He said comparisons of photos, and Madeleine's unique eye pigmentation, meant the individuals could not be her.

DCI Cranwell was giving evidence in the trial of Julia Wandelt, who is accused of stalking Madeleine's parents, claiming to be their daughter. He said a DNA test had proved that claim to be untrue.

Madeleine went missing aged three from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

It is alleged Wandelt, 24, and her co-accused Karen Spragg, 61, had turned up at the McCanns' family home in Rothley, Leics, demanding a DNA test.

DCI Cranwell said he had initially refused to get a DNA sample from Wandelt because in his view she was not Madeleine.