Madeleine McCann’s siblings have described how “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with an alleged stalker claiming to be their missing sister left them fearful.
Julia Wandelt, 24, stands accused of targeting the family in a two-and-a-half-year harassment campaign.
The twins Amelie and Sean McCann said the defendant contacted them on a number of occasions claiming to be their missing older sister.
Ms McCann disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007 when she was three and they were two.
Amelie said during her court appearance, which came via video link, that Ms Wandelt would use various social media platforms to contact her.
She said her frequent messages were “quite scary because you don’t know what she’ll do next”.
Messages from Ms Wandelt described memories of being in the McCann household, something Amelie said was “quite disturbing”.
“It makes me feel quite uncomfortable because it is quite creepy that she’s giving those details and trying to play with my emotions and memories, saying that something happened”, she told the court.
Amelie McCann described a ‘sound of desperation’ in Ms Wandelt’s messages
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Amelie said she was not convinced by Ms Wandelt’s alleged claim to be her long-lost older sister.
“I had a feeling there would be something about her I would maybe recognise or believe”, she said.
A “sound of desperation” in her messages “put a lot of stress” on the younger McCann sister, she told the court.
“It makes you feel quite guilty because she’s so desperate to connect”, she said, adding: “I knew deep down it wasn’t Madeleine.”
Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg stand accused of stalking the McCanns
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A court sketch of the two alleged stalkers
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The court heard how Ms Wandelt had created pictures of herself and Amelie together as children, which the prosecution said earlier in the week had been made with the help of AI software ChatGPT.
“I didn’t like it, it made me feel very uncomfortable”, Amelie said.
“She had clearly edited the pictures to make me look more like her, which was quite disturbing.
“I knew I didn’t look like that, I knew it had been changed.”
She also spoke about how the alleged stalking had affected her mother, Kate, who told the court on Wednesday about being confronted at home by Ms Wandelt and her co-defendant, Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff.
“She was harassed by Julia more than the rest of us and I think it definitely took its toll on her and her wellbeing”, Amelie told the court.
“It’s upsetting when someone’s begging you to believe them and playing with your emotions, to the point you are questioning yourself and doubting yourself.
“I think my mum really struggled with that. Her saying, ‘I am your daughter’.”
Wandelt and Spragg deny stalking the McCann family.
The trial continues.