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Madeleine McCann's brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, have testified in court that their interactions with an accused stalker were extremely upsetting and unsettling. The siblings described feeling anxious and frightened by a woman who insisted she was their missing sister.

Persistent Communication Described as Scary

Appearing via video link, she stated how the accused, the 24-year-old, contacted her repeatedly through social media and written correspondence. Amelie explained the persistence was very scary since you don’t know what her next move might be.

Messages from the defendant were read in the trial, in which she recounted recollections of being in the family home that she said were recalled during hypnotherapy. Amelie told the court, It's very upsetting that she's inventing these alleged recollections, even though she’s not Maddie.

Fabricated Images Increased Unease

The court heard that Wandelt had produced pictures of herself and Amelie as young girls, which the prosecution said were made with AI tools. A number of these images were transmitted through social media, while others were produced physically and included in a letter to Amelie.

She stated, I didn’t like it, it made me feel very uncomfortable. It was evident she altered the pictures to make me look more like her, which was quite distressing. I was aware I didn’t look like that, I knew it had been manipulated.

Emotional Impact on the Household

She also spoke about the effect of the alleged stalking on her mother, their mother, who testified about being approached at her residence by Wandelt and her alleged accomplice, a 61-year-old woman.

In my opinion my mother experienced it as the most difficult. She was targeted by Julia more than the others in the family and I believe it definitely took its toll on her and her wellbeing, she testified. It’s upsetting when a person is begging you to believe them and manipulating your feelings, to the extent you are doubting your own judgment.

Sibling's Testimony on Anxiety and Digital Attention

In a testimony presented to the trial, Sean McCann said that for him, he had not been severely impacted by Wandelt's accused stalking. However he had been distressed that she was drawing social media scrutiny, with people saying nasty and unfair things about his parents.

In the event that Wandelt was not mentally ill and was fully aware she is not Maddie, yet continues to assert she is, that will be very upsetting for me, he testified. I do not believe she is my sibling. The reality that the defendant is doing this has caused me a great deal of anxiety and I find it profoundly disturbing.

Wandelt and her co-defendant deny harassing the McCann family. Proceedings are ongoing.