Madeleine McCann's Brother and Sister Describe Supposed Harasser's Behavior as Extremely Upsetting and Unsettling

Maddie McCann's brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, have testified in court that their interactions with an accused harasser were extremely upsetting and creepy. They explained feeling stressed and frightened by a woman who claimed she was their missing sister.

Relentless Contact Detailed as Scary

Testifying via video link, Amelie stated how the accused, Julia Wandelt, contacted her repeatedly through social media and letters. Amelie explained the persistence was quite frightening since you don’t know what her next move might be.

Messages from Wandelt were read in the trial, in which she described memories of being in the McCann household that she claimed were recalled under hypnosis. She told the court, It’s quite disturbing that she's inventing these alleged memories, even though she isn't Madeleine.

Fabricated Images Increased Unease

The court learned that the accused had created images of Amelie and herself as children, which the state said were generated with AI tools. A number of these images were transmitted through social media, while additional ones were produced physically and enclosed in a mail to her.

She stated, It was unpleasant, it caused me to feel very uneasy. It was evident she altered the pictures to make me appear similar to her, which was quite distressing. I knew I didn’t look like that, I knew it had been manipulated.

Psychological Toll on the Household

Amelie also spoke about the impact of the alleged harassment on her mother, their mother, who gave evidence about being approached at home by Wandelt and her alleged accomplice, Karen Spragg.

I think my mother experienced it as the hardest. She was targeted by the defendant to a greater extent than the rest of us and I believe it certainly had a negative effect on her and her mental health, she testified. It's distressing when someone’s begging you to believe them and playing with your feelings, to the extent you are doubting your own judgment.

Sibling's Statement on Anxiety and Digital Scrutiny

In a witness statement read to the court, her brother stated that for him, he had not been too badly affected by Wandelt's accused stalking. But he had been upset that she was drawing social media scrutiny, with people saying nasty and unfair comments about his mother and father.

If she was not mentally ill and was fully aware she is not Madeleine, yet continues to assert she is, that would be very upsetting for me, he said. I do not believe she is my sister. The reality that the defendant is doing this has resulted in a significant amount of anxiety and I consider it profoundly troubling.

The defendant and her co-defendant deny stalking the family family. The trial are ongoing.