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Madeleine McCann brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, have testified in court that their encounters with an alleged harasser were deeply disturbing and unsettling. They described feeling stressed and scared by a woman who insisted she was their missing sister.

Persistent Contact Described as Scary

Testifying remotely, Amelie described how the accused, the 24-year-old, reached out to her multiple times through online platforms and written correspondence. Amelie explained the relentlessness was very frightening because you don’t know what she’ll do next.

Messages from the defendant were presented in the trial, in which she recounted recollections of living in the McCann household that she claimed were recalled during hypnotherapy. She told the court, It’s quite disturbing that she’s coming up with these alleged recollections, even though she’s not Maddie.

Fabricated Pictures Heightened Unease

Jurors learned that Wandelt had created images of Amelie and herself as young girls, which the prosecution alleged were made with AI tools. A number of these photos were sent through online channels, while others were produced physically and enclosed in a letter to Amelie.

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

Psychological Toll on the Family

Amelie also discussed the impact of the alleged stalking on her parent, Kate, who gave evidence about being approached at her residence by Wandelt and her alleged accomplice, a 61-year-old woman.

I think my mother found it the hardest. My mother was harassed by Julia more than the others in the family and I think it certainly had a negative effect on her and her mental health, Amelie testified. It's distressing when someone’s pleading with you to accept their claims and playing with your feelings, to the point you are questioning yourself.

Brother's Testimony on Anxiety and Online Attention

In a witness statement presented to the court, Sean McCann said that personally, he had not been severely affected by Wandelt's accused stalking. However he had been upset that she was drawing social media scrutiny, with people saying nasty and unfair comments about his parents.

If Wandelt was not suffering from a psychological condition and was completely conscious she is not Madeleine, yet continues to assert she is, that would be very distressing 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 stress and I consider it deeply troubling.

Wandelt and her co-defendant deny harassing the McCann household. The trial are ongoing.