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Maddie McCann's brother and sister, Amelie and Sean, have testified in court that their encounters with an alleged stalker were deeply disturbing and unsettling. The siblings described feeling stressed and scared by a woman who insisted she was their missing sister.

Relentless Communication Detailed as Scary

Testifying remotely, 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 recalled under hypnosis. Amelie testified, It's very disturbing that she’s coming up with these alleged memories, even though she’s not Madeleine.

Altered Images Increased Distress

The court learned that the accused had produced pictures of herself and Amelie as young girls, which the prosecution alleged were generated with ChatGPT. A number of these images were sent through social media, while additional ones were produced physically and included in a mail to Amelie.

She said, I didn’t like it, it caused me to feel very uneasy. It was evident she edited the images to make me look more like her, which was very disturbing. I was aware I didn't resemble that, I knew it had been changed.

Emotional Toll on the Household

Amelie also spoke about the effect of the alleged stalking on her parent, Kate, who gave evidence about being approached at her residence by Wandelt and her co-defendant, a 61-year-old woman.

In my opinion my mother experienced it as the hardest. She was targeted by the defendant to a greater extent than the rest of us and I think it definitely took its toll on her and her wellbeing, Amelie said. It’s upsetting when someone’s begging you to believe them and playing with your feelings, to the point you are questioning yourself.

Brother's Testimony on Stress and Online Scrutiny

In a witness statement read to the trial, her brother stated that personally, he had not been too badly impacted by the defendant's alleged harassment. But he had been upset that she was drawing 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 makes these claims, that would be very upsetting for me, he said. I do not believe she is my sibling. The fact that the defendant is engaging in this behavior has resulted in a significant amount of anxiety and I find it profoundly disturbing.

Wandelt and Spragg deny harassing the McCann household. The trial are ongoing.