Suspect was deeply disturbing, Madeleine's siblings tell trial

Madeleine McCann’s brother and sister yesterday described being stressed and scared by their “creepy” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with an alleged stalker who claimed to be their missing sister.

- Robyn Vinter

Amelie and Sean McCann were giving evidence at the trial of Julia Wandelt, 24, who is accused of mounting a harassment campaign agaist them that lasted two and a half years.

The twins recalled the defendant contacting them a number of times saying she was Madeleine, who had disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007 when she was three and they were two.

Appearing via video link, Amelie said the persistence of Wandelt, a Polish national, in contacting her on social media platforms and sending letters was “quite scary because you don’t know what she'll do next”.

Messages to her from Wandelt were read to the court in which the alleged stalker described memories of being in the McCann household that she claimed had been recovered under hypnosis.

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