Ellie McQueen has now been called to the witness box. She is a family friend of the McCanns and has known them for many years.

She is asked about before the time of Madeleine's disappearance on 3 May 2007.

"She [Madeleine] was a bit younger than me but like a little sister to me, I have a lot of memories of her when we were growing," she said.

She was in Portugal when the disappearance happened.

"I was quite publicly associated with the case," she added.

Nadia Silver, for the prosecution, is now reading a statement from Sean McCann, Amelie McCann's twin brother and Madeleine's younger sibling.

In it, he said he had a few messages from Ms Wandelt on Instagram in 2024, but felt he "was not that impacted" as he "blocked her straight away".

He spoke about the efforts Ms Wandelt went to with his mother and twin sister, and said the defendant "messaged them a lot more".

He said the contact he had from the defendant "made him think about changing his online presence", and added he took his last name out of his social media profiles in order to avoid the defendant "and her supporters".

On the claims Ms Wandelt is his sister, he said this was "upsetting and disrespectful".

He continued that he thought she might be suffering from a mental health condition, and this "makes me feel guilty for feeling upset".

But he added: "If she is fully aware she is not Madeleine, then this is very upsetting for me."

His statement ends by saying he was aware of Ms Wandelt's accounts - which were called "Am I Julia Wandelt?" and another which was named "I Am Madeleine McCann".

He added: "I do not believe she is Madeleine... [her actions] are strange and upsetting, I do not want anything to do with her."

Heather Burman
BBC News

Here's a round-up of the evidence given by Amelie McCann, via video-link:

• She said she was distressed by messages from the defendant Julia Wandelt, who claimed to be her sister. She told the court: "It's disturbing she is coming up with these supposed memories when she is not Madeleine."
• Ms McCann told the court that Ms Wandelt said in a message she remembered playing playground game Ring a Ring o' Roses with her. Ms McCann said: "Again, it makes me feel quite uncomfortable because it is quite creepy and playing with my emotions and my memories that she claims that happened."
• Ms McCann said the messages did make her "feel guilty", because Ms Wandelt was "desperate" to connect with her. She said she did not need to do a DNA test, as she "always knew" Ms Wandelt "wasn't Madeleine"
• Ms McCann told the court her mother Kate McCann "found it the hardest and was harassed by Ms Wandelt more than the rest of us, so it took a toll on her and her wellbeing".
• Ms McCann said the potential for Ms Wandelt to turn up at her home "was scary for her". The court was then told about improved security measures put in place at the family home, including new CCTV, a panic alarm and Ring doorbell camera

Tom Price KC, representing Julia Wandelt, asked Amelie McCann about a number of messages that other people had sent to her - trying to contact her about Ms Wandelt.

Asked if the letter addressed to her was actually to the family, Ms McCann said she did not remember, but added the contents related to her.

She has now finished her evidence.

The prosecution has asked again about the DNA test not being carried out, and why Amelie McCann came to the conclusion that the defendant was Julia Wandelt and not Madeleine.

"I would have had a feeling there would be something about her I recognised but I didn't think she looked like us," she said.

"She is Polish and has Polish family who are her parents. It didn't make any sense to me."

The court is told about improved security measures put in place at the family home, including new CCTV, a panic alarm and Ring doorbell camera.

"That isn't normal," Ms McCann said.

"As a normal teenager - no-one else has that thing in place.

"It was impinging on your life and also the potential of her turning up was scary for me."

Amelie McCann is now asked about the incident on 7 December 2024, when the court heard Julia Wandelt and Karen Spragg turned up at the McCann family home in Rothley, Leicestershire, demanding a DNA test.

The witness was not at the home at the time, but at university.

Speaking about her mother, Ms McCann said: "She was very stressed and on edge about that, because it's not nice to have an unexpected, unwanted visitor at your house and especially the nature of what she was saying and doing, begging."

Ms McCann added her mother was "really panicked" on the phone a few months after the incident when they were chatting, because there was someone at the house who she did not recognise.

Ms Silver is now asking the witness about the impact on her mother, Kate McCann.

Ms McCann said: "My mum found it the hardest and was harassed by Julia more than the rest of us, so it took a toll on her and her wellbeing.

"All the time her phone would be going off and it was Julia - it was upsetting."

Ms Silver has asked Amelie McCann if she had any other contact from Ms Wandelt, aside from social media.

Leicester Crown Court heard Ms Wandelt had contacted the witness through TikTok, Facebook and Instagram on numerous occasions.

Ms McCann said she was home from university when a letter was posted to her from the defendant, but added she did not keep it.

When asked to recall what it said, Ms McCann said: "There was a lot of writing and similar lines - that I was her last hope to help her and tried to persuade me she was Madeleine.

"She also printed out pictures of me and of her."

Ms McCann is now asked about a message from Ms Wandelt, which urged her to get her parents to help the defendant with a DNA test.

The message acknowledges the "stress" Mr and Mrs McCann were under, but added it could "bring joy to all the family".

"She clearly thinks she is Madeleine - she can't understand that no-one is helping her to get proof or whatever," she said.

"She thinks I would've told my parents and got them to listen to her.

"It shows you the lengths she would go to, to try and get heard which is a bit scary because you don't know what she'll do next."

Ms McCann continues and said the messages did make her "feel guilty", because Ms Wandelt was "desperate to connect and reach out to me".

"It makes you feel guilty for not listening to her request but I knew deep down it wasn't Madeleine.

"Because I always knew that she wasn't Madeleine... I didn't need to do one [a DNA test]," she added.

Ms McCann is now asked about the defendants' call for a DNA test - she said there were a "lot of messages about this".

The witness is asked about a line in a message, when the court heard Ms Wandelt said she remembered playing playground game Ring a Ring o' Roses.

"Again, it makes me feel quite uncomfortable because it is quite creepy and playing with my emotions and my memories that she claims that happened," she said.

Ms McCann said she did not reply to any of the messages.

Ms McCann is continuing her evidence.

She is asked about social media, and said she was "used to getting messages about the case", but "not from people claiming to be Maddie".

The prosecution is now turning to Ms Wandelt's first message when she claims she is her sister.

"It was quite distressing to see the messages, it's a long message and there's a sound of desperation which put a lot of stress on me," she said.

"I felt uncomfortable about it as I didn't want to receive messages about that."

On the claim of memories the defendant said she had of Amelie, Ms McCann added: "It's disturbing she is coming up with these supposed memories when she is not Madeleine."

Amelie McCann has been asked about messages she received, kept and later handed to the police.

Ms McCann said she "didn't really tell anyone about it", and was not aware of the "wider contact" Ms Wandelt made.

"I didn't think it was a criminal offence or know it would be considered stalking," she said.

"I just thought I could deal with it myself and to ignore it.

"I didn't want to add any additional stress to my parents or my family, so I just left it with myself."

Nadia Silver, for the prosecution, has now begun asking Amelie - who is giving evidence via video-link - questions.

She asks when she first became aware of when Julia Wandelt contacted her.

"I knew of her before she contacted me, because it was in the media," Ms McCann said.

"I think the police had got in touch with my parents about it and it was on the news as well."

Asked about the first direct contact, she added she was first contacted by Ms Wandelt in January 2024.

The three-year-old was on holiday with her family in Portugal when she disappeared on 3 May 2007.

She vanished from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, sparking a Europe-wide investigation that has become one of the highest-profile missing persons cases.

Madeleine's parents had been dining with friends at a restaurant a short walk away, while their daughter and her younger twin siblings were asleep in the ground-floor apartment.

They had checked in on the children periodically until her mother, Kate, discovered she was missing at about 22:00 local time.

The case remains unsolved.

Image source, PA Media

The prosecution has called Madeleine McCann's sister, Amelie McCann, who is giving evidence via video-link.

She is being sworn in now.

This morning Nadia Silver, for the prosecution, has read a statement from the McCanns' neighbour Dr Alex Milton, who said he spotted a "white car" parked near where he and the family live in Rothley.

The statement was made in "relation to a disturbance on Saturday 7 December", which was picked up on his Ring doorbell camera.

Mr Milton said the area where he and the McCanns' lived was a "quiet area", and first noticed the car when he took his dog out for a walk at 18:00.

He said it was dark outside but saw a woman in the car who he had "not seen before". He returned for his walk at 18:25 and the car was still there.

Mr Milton said he "thought it was strange". He noticed the car was still there an hour later with the lights turned off.

The doorbell footage was played, which the prosecution say shows Ms Wandelt and Mrs Spragg walking past and back again in front of Mr Milton's property on a number of occasions.

Heather Burman
BBC News

Yesterday, Leicester Crown Court was told of a letter Ms Wandelt wrote to Kate McCann. The jury was told it was posted through the McCanns' door the day after the face-to-face confrontation on 7 December 2024.

It read:

"Dear Mum [Kate],

"I'm so sorry for causing you so much distress, but when I saw you yesterday, my emotions were so strong.

"I felt a close connection to you. I don't like seeing you upset.

"All I want is to find out the truth. I have memories and I have gathered a lot of evidence supporting my case.

"I think that inside your heart you believe and know who I am and I am your daughter.

"I don't understand why you don't want to do a DNA test with me.

"I think you are scared, but whatever makes you scared, just remember that you are stronger than that.

"Yesterday, I heard a lot of care and love in your voice. I hope you will find a way to contact me."

The letter was signed off with "Madeleine X".

Heather Burman
BBC News

Image source, Google

Prosecutor Michael Duck KC opened the Crown's case on Monday.

In it, he said:

• From June 2022, Julia Wandelt began to speak to anyone who would care to listen" that she was Kate and Gerry McCann's missing daughter Madeleine, the court heard
• In January 2023, Ms Wandelt was in contact with a Polish charity established to assist with historic missing persons cases. According to the prosecutor, Ms Wandelt initially said she was missing German girl Inga Gehricke. But after these claims were ruled out by the charity, Ms Wandelt then contacted the charity with a belief she could be Acacia Bishop - a missing baby from Utah in the US - before messaging them about her insistence she was Madeleine
• Her belief escalated to an attempt to call the hospital where both the McCanns worked
• But her attempts went unanswered, which Mr Duck KC said "did not deter" Ms Wandelt - who then made contact with Madeleine's younger sister Amelie via social media
• Telling her she was her "only hope", she sent doctored images to show they were "somehow related" and claimed to have memories of life before the abduction, the court heard
• Despite a failure to contact the McCanns through daughter Amelie, Ms Wandelt also messaged twin brother Sean, who did not engage with her, the court was told
• After Ms Wandelt's attempts to contact the McCanns from her native Poland were "rebuffed on hundreds of occasions", she made arrangements to visit the UK to approach the couple at a 2024 vigil - held annually to mark Madeleine's disappearance - on 3 May in Rothley, Leicestershire. By chance Mr and Mrs McCann were not there
• Ms Wandelt began to "spread the net" and eventually encountered Karen Spragg online, who the court heard became a "forthright" supporter of Ms Wandelt and the "conspiracy theory" that Madeleine's parents were involved in her disappearance
• On 7 December 2024, Ms Wandelt and Mrs Spragg "accosted" Mr and Mrs McCann with a demand for a DNA test outside the family home

• Ms Wandelt was arrested in February after arriving at Bristol Airport, with Mrs Spragg also detained in a nearby car park