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Madeleine McCann's brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, have told the court that their interactions with an alleged stalker were extremely disturbing and creepy. The siblings explained feeling anxious and frightened by a woman who claimed she was their long-lost sister.

Relentless Contact Described as Frightening

Appearing via video link, she stated how the defendant, Julia Wandelt, reached out to her multiple times through social media and written correspondence. Amelie explained the persistence was quite scary since you don’t know what she’ll do next.

Communications from Wandelt were read in court, in which she recounted recollections of living in the family home that she claimed were recovered during hypnotherapy. She told the court, It's very disturbing that she’s coming up with these alleged recollections, even though she isn't Madeleine.

Fabricated Pictures Increased Distress

Jurors heard that the accused had created pictures of herself and Amelie as children, which the prosecution alleged were generated with ChatGPT. Some of these images were transmitted through online channels, 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. She had clearly edited the pictures to make me appear similar to her, which was very distressing. I knew I didn’t look like that, I understood it had been manipulated.

Emotional Impact on the Household

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

In my opinion my mum found it the hardest. She was targeted by the defendant to a greater extent than the rest of us and I believe it certainly had a negative effect on her and her mental health, Amelie testified. It's distressing when someone’s begging you to accept their claims and manipulating your feelings, to the extent you are questioning yourself.

Sibling's Statement on Stress and Digital Attention

In a testimony read to the trial, her brother stated that for him, he had not been severely affected by Wandelt's accused stalking. But he had been upset that she was attracting social media scrutiny, with people posting hurtful and unjust things about his parents.

If she was not suffering from a psychological condition and was fully aware she is not Madeleine, yet continues to assert she is, that would be very upsetting for me, he said. I am convinced she is my sister. The reality that the defendant is doing this has caused me a great deal of anxiety and I find it deeply troubling.

The defendant and Spragg have pleaded not guilty to harassing the family household. Proceedings continue.