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Madeleine McCann brother and sister, Amelie and Sean, have told the court that their encounters with an accused stalker were extremely upsetting and creepy. The siblings described feeling stressed and frightened by a woman who claimed she was their missing sister.

Relentless Contact Described as Frightening

Appearing remotely, she described how the defendant, the 24-year-old, reached out to her multiple times through social media and letters. Amelie explained the relentlessness was very frightening because you don’t know what she’ll do next.

Communications from the defendant were read in the trial, in which she described memories of living in the McCann household that she claimed were recovered during hypnotherapy. Amelie told the court, It’s quite upsetting that she’s coming up with these supposed memories, even though she’s not Madeleine.

Fabricated Images Heightened Distress

Jurors heard that the accused had produced images of herself and Amelie as children, which the prosecution said were generated with AI tools. A number of these photos were sent through social media, while additional ones were printed and included in a letter to her.

Amelie stated, It was unpleasant, it caused me to feel very uneasy. She had clearly edited the pictures to make me look more like her, which was quite distressing. I was aware I didn’t look like that, I understood it had been changed.

Psychological Impact on the Family

She also discussed the effect of the alleged harassment on her mother, Kate, who testified about being approached at home by Wandelt and her co-defendant, Karen Spragg.

I think my mother experienced it as the most difficult. She was targeted by the defendant to a greater extent than the others in the family and I think it definitely took its toll on her and her wellbeing, she said. It's distressing when a person is begging you to believe them and manipulating your emotions, to the point you are questioning yourself.

Sibling's Statement on Anxiety and Digital Scrutiny

In a testimony presented to the trial, her brother said that personally, he had not been too badly affected by Wandelt's accused stalking. But he had been distressed that she was drawing social media scrutiny, with people saying nasty and unfair comments about his parents.

If she was not suffering from a psychological condition and was fully aware she is not Madeleine, yet makes these claims, that will be very upsetting for me, he testified. I do not believe she is my sister. The fact that the defendant is engaging in this behavior has resulted in a significant amount of stress and I consider it deeply troubling.

The defendant and her co-defendant have pleaded not guilty to stalking the family household. Proceedings continue.