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Madeleine McCann brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, have testified in court that their encounters with an alleged harasser were extremely disturbing and unsettling. They explained feeling anxious and scared by a woman who insisted she was their long-lost sister.

Relentless Contact Described as Scary

Testifying via video link, she described how the accused, Julia Wandelt, reached out to her repeatedly through social media and written correspondence. She said the persistence was very scary since you don’t know what her next move might be.

Communications from Wandelt were presented in the trial, in which she described recollections of being in the family home that she claimed were recovered during hypnotherapy. Amelie told the court, It’s quite upsetting that she’s coming up with these alleged recollections, despite the fact she isn't Maddie.

Fabricated Pictures Increased Distress

Jurors heard that Wandelt had created images of herself and Amelie as young girls, which the prosecution said were made with AI tools. Some of these photos were transmitted through online channels, while additional ones were produced physically and included in a mail to her.

Amelie stated, It was unpleasant, it made me feel very uneasy. She had clearly edited the pictures to make me appear similar to her, which was very distressing. I knew I didn’t look like that, I understood it had been changed.

Emotional Toll on the Household

She also spoke about the effect of the alleged stalking on her mother, their mother, who testified about being confronted at home by the defendant and her co-defendant, Karen Spragg.

In my opinion my mother found it the most difficult. My mother was targeted by Julia to a greater extent than the others in the family and I believe it certainly took its toll on her and her mental health, Amelie said. It's distressing when a person is pleading with you to accept their claims and playing with your feelings, to the extent you are questioning yourself.

Sibling's Statement on Anxiety and Online Scrutiny

In a testimony read to the trial, her brother said that for him, he had not been too badly impacted by the defendant's alleged harassment. But he had been distressed that she was attracting social media scrutiny, with people saying nasty and unfair things about his mother and father.

In the event that Wandelt was not mentally ill and was completely conscious she is not Maddie, yet continues to assert she is, that will be very distressing for me, he said. I do not believe she is my sister. The reality that Julia is doing this has resulted in a great deal of anxiety and I find it deeply troubling.

The defendant and Spragg deny harassing the McCann family. The trial are ongoing.