'I always knew that she wasn't my sister Madeleine'

Amelie McCann gives evidence in trial of alleged stalker

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Madeleine McCann’s sister has told a court she “always knew” that a woman who claimed to be the missing girl was not her sibling.

Amelie McCann received a string of messages from Julia Wandelt in which she insisted she was her missing sister, who vanished without trace from a holiday resort in Portugal in 2007.

Ms Wandelt, 24, from Lubin in southwest Poland, is accused of stalking Kate and Gerry McCann, causing serious alarm or distress between June 2022 and February this year.

Giving evidence remotely at Leicester Crown Court, Amelie said it was “creepy” and “distressing” when Ms Wandelt sent her messages detailing apparent flashbacks she had from their childhood.

These included requests for a DNA test and alleged recollections from their childhood, such as playing ring-a-ring-a-roses with other children.

Ms Wandelt also sent images of herself, which were “clearly altered or edited ... to make it look more like her”, the court heard.

“It is quite disturbing that she’s coming up with these supposed memories even though she’s not Madeleine,” Amelie said.

However, she said she did not want Ms Wandelt - who denies stalking - to get a DNA test.