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Madeleine McCann twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, have testified in court that their encounters with an alleged stalker were deeply disturbing and unsettling. The siblings explained feeling anxious and scared by a woman who claimed she was their missing sister.

Relentless Communication Described as Frightening

Appearing remotely, she described how the defendant, the 24-year-old, contacted her repeatedly through online platforms and letters. She said the persistence was quite scary since you don’t know what she’ll do next.

Communications from Wandelt were presented in court, in which she recounted memories of living in the McCann household that she said were recalled during hypnotherapy. Amelie told the court, It's very upsetting that she's inventing these alleged memories, despite the fact she isn't Madeleine.

Fabricated Images Heightened Distress

Jurors heard that the accused had produced pictures of Amelie and herself as children, which the prosecution said were generated with ChatGPT. Some of these photos were transmitted through social media, while others were printed and enclosed in a mail to her.

She said, I didn’t like it, it caused me to feel very uneasy. She had clearly altered the images to make me look more like her, which was very disturbing. I knew I didn’t look like that, I understood it had been manipulated.

Psychological Toll on the Family

Amelie also discussed the effect of the supposed harassment on her mother, their mother, who gave evidence about being confronted at home by Wandelt and her alleged accomplice, Karen Spragg.

In my opinion my mother experienced it as the most difficult. My mother was targeted by the defendant more than the others in the family and I believe it definitely had a negative effect on her and her wellbeing, Amelie testified. It’s upsetting when someone’s pleading with you to accept their claims and playing with your feelings, to the point you are doubting your own judgment.

Sibling's Statement on Stress and Online Attention

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

If she was not mentally ill and was fully aware she is not Maddie, yet makes these claims, that will be very upsetting for me, he testified. I do not believe she is my sister. The reality that Julia is doing this has caused me a great deal of anxiety and I consider it deeply troubling.

The defendant and Spragg deny harassing the McCann family. The trial continue.