🔗 Share this article

Madeleine McCann twin siblings, Amelie and Sean, have testified in court that their encounters with an alleged harasser were extremely disturbing and creepy. The siblings explained feeling stressed and frightened by a woman who claimed she was their missing sister.

Relentless Contact Described as Frightening

Appearing via video link, Amelie stated how the accused, the 24-year-old, reached out to her repeatedly through social media and written correspondence. Amelie explained the relentlessness was very scary since you don’t know what she’ll do next.

Messages from Wandelt were read in court, in which she described memories of living in the McCann household that she claimed were recalled during hypnotherapy. Amelie testified, It’s quite upsetting that she’s coming up with these supposed recollections, even though she isn't Maddie.

Altered Images Increased Distress

The court learned that Wandelt had created pictures of herself and Amelie as children, which the state alleged were made with AI tools. Some of these photos were sent through social media, while additional ones were produced physically and enclosed in a letter to her.

Amelie stated, I didn’t like it, it caused me to feel very uneasy. It was evident she edited the images to make me appear similar to her, which was quite disturbing. I was aware I didn’t look like that, I understood it had been changed.

Emotional Impact on the Family

She also spoke about the impact of the alleged stalking on her mother, Kate, who gave evidence about being approached at home by the defendant and her alleged accomplice, Karen Spragg.

I think my mother found it the hardest. She was harassed by Julia more than the others in the family and I believe it definitely had a negative effect on her and her mental health, she said. 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 Stress and Online Attention

In a witness statement read to the court, Sean McCann stated that for him, he had not been severely affected by the defendant's alleged stalking. However he had been distressed that she was attracting online attention, with people posting nasty and unfair things about his mother and father.

In the event that she was not mentally ill and was fully aware she is not Maddie, yet makes these claims, that will be very distressing for me, he testified. I do not believe she is my sister. The fact that the defendant is engaging in this behavior has caused me a significant amount of stress and I consider it deeply disturbing.

Wandelt and her co-defendant have pleaded not guilty to harassing the McCann family. The trial continue.