🔗 Share this article

Maddie McCann's brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, have testified in court that their encounters with an accused harasser were extremely upsetting and unsettling. They described feeling stressed and scared by a woman who insisted she was their missing sister.

Relentless Contact Detailed as Frightening

Testifying via video link, she stated how the defendant, Julia Wandelt, contacted her repeatedly through online platforms and written correspondence. Amelie explained the relentlessness was quite frightening because it's impossible to predict what she’ll do next.

Communications from Wandelt were presented in court, in which she described memories of living in the McCann household that she claimed were recovered during hypnotherapy. Amelie testified, It’s quite disturbing that she's inventing these alleged memories, even though she isn't Maddie.

Fabricated Pictures Increased Distress

Jurors learned that the accused had created images of herself and Amelie as young girls, which the prosecution alleged were generated with AI tools. A number of these photos were transmitted through social media, while others were printed and included in a mail to Amelie.

She said, It was unpleasant, it made me feel very uncomfortable. It was evident she altered the images to make me appear similar to her, which was quite disturbing. I was aware I didn't resemble that, I understood it had been manipulated.

Psychological Toll on the Family

She also discussed the impact of the alleged harassment on her parent, their mother, who gave evidence about being confronted at home by the defendant and her co-defendant, Karen Spragg.

In my opinion my mother experienced it as the hardest. My mother was harassed by the defendant more than the others in the family and I think it certainly had a negative effect on her and her mental health, she said. It’s upsetting when a person is begging you to believe them and manipulating your emotions, to the point you are questioning yourself.

Brother's Testimony on Anxiety and Digital Scrutiny

In a testimony read to the trial, Sean McCann said that for him, he had not been too badly affected by the defendant's accused stalking. However he had been upset that she was attracting online attention, with people posting hurtful and unjust comments about his parents.

In the event that Wandelt was not mentally ill and was completely conscious she is not Madeleine, yet makes these claims, that would be very distressing for me, he said. I am convinced she is my sibling. The fact that Julia is engaging in this behavior has caused me a great deal of anxiety and I consider it profoundly troubling.

The defendant and Spragg have pleaded not guilty to harassing the family family. Proceedings are ongoing.