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Madeleine McCann twin siblings, Amelie and Sean, have testified in court that their interactions with an alleged stalker were extremely upsetting and creepy. The siblings described feeling anxious and scared by a woman who insisted she was their long-lost sister.

Relentless Communication Detailed as Scary

Appearing remotely, she stated how the accused, the 24-year-old, reached out to her multiple times through online platforms and written correspondence. Amelie explained the persistence was quite frightening because it's impossible to predict what she’ll do next.

Messages from Wandelt were presented in the trial, in which she described memories of living in the family home that she said were recovered during hypnotherapy. Amelie told the court, It's very upsetting that she’s coming up with these supposed recollections, despite the fact she’s not Maddie.

Fabricated Images Heightened Distress

The court learned that Wandelt had created images of Amelie and herself as young girls, which the prosecution alleged were made with ChatGPT. Some of these photos were sent through social media, while additional ones were printed and included in a mail to Amelie.

Amelie 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 quite distressing. I was aware I didn't resemble that, I understood it had been manipulated.

Emotional Toll on the Household

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

In my opinion my mother experienced it as the hardest. My mother was targeted by the defendant to a greater extent than the others in the family and I believe it definitely took its toll on her and her mental health, Amelie testified. It's distressing when a person is begging you to accept their claims and playing with your emotions, to the point you are doubting your own judgment.

Sibling's Testimony on Stress and Digital Attention

In a witness statement presented to the trial, her brother stated that for him, he had not been too badly impacted by the defendant's alleged stalking. But he had been distressed that she was attracting 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 makes these claims, that will be very distressing for me, he said. I am convinced she is my sibling. The reality that Julia is doing this has caused me a great deal of anxiety and I consider it deeply troubling.

Wandelt and Spragg have pleaded not guilty to stalking the McCann household. Proceedings are ongoing.