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The mother of missing Madeleine McCann has told a court how she found it deeply upsetting to listen to a woman accused of harassment address her as “mum,” as she insisted to be her missing daughter.

Testifying from behind a screen, McCann stated that the behavior of Julia Wandelt left her frightened and deeply troubled. The accused is alleged to have carried out a two-and-a-half year persistent stalking that ended with her detainment in early this year.

Wandelt is accused with repeatedly calling McCann as “mum” on several instances, as she maintained she was Madeleine, who was three when she vanished during a trip with her parents in Praia da Luz in the year 2007.

This included a letter signed “Madeleine x.”

This was one instance of a thing that was affecting me deeply,” she testified. “It’s clear the thing I want the most … is for Madeleine to be back and for Madeleine to be saying ‘mum’. And that was really stressful for me.”

She added, “Calling me as ‘mum’ is hard.”

Confrontation outside the home

The court heard that the defendant and her alleged accomplice, Karen Spragg from Wales, had bombarded the family with repeated communications and were waiting near their house on the evening of 7 December 2024.

When Kate McCann got out of her car by herself, she described a voice calling out in the night saying “Kate.”

“I knew it was someone behind me but I didn’t know who it was,” she said. “I got a fright.”

Turning round, she identified the defendant “pretty quickly” from photos she had sent, she said. “Her image was firmly planted in my mind in any case because of the extensive contact,” she noted.

“I was alarmed and when I understood who it was I felt very upset. I think I’d been on edge anyway with all the communication and it just bubbled up.”

She said she managed to get inside the house even though the accused “putting her hands out trying to stop me closing the door.”

Demand for testing and fleeting uncertainty

Both women had been asking for a DNA test, something McCann clarified she would have been unable to do without the participation of the police, who had already ruled out the chance that the defendant was her daughter.

She admitted she had avoided encouraging the women, but acknowledged she had experienced a moment of doubt.

“I think because [the alleged harassment] was getting to be so much, a small part of my brain was saying ‘what if?’, even though I knew …

“I guess having seen a picture of her, and she’s Polish, none of it made any sense.

“I can’t say what Madeleine looks like now, but if I viewed an image of her, I would know her instantly.

“When I say there was a niggle, it was minuscule.”

Madeleine’s father testifies about that night

Madeleine’s father was questioned regarding the same evening in court on Wednesday afternoon. He had come home later than Kate to be faced with the defendants, which he described as “pretty horrible.”

He also talked about being sure the accused was not his lost child and revealed that at one point he had answered the phone to her.

“I don’t recall my precise phrasing but I said something like: ‘You are not my daughter, please cease contacting us’.”

He found it difficult to speak through the visible distress as he discussed trying to shield his other two children from the public attention brought by Madeleine’s case.

“Online platforms can be harmful, all the negative comments that have been posted about us and nasty stuff online, so naturally we aimed to protect them from that,” he said.

Emotional testimony and dramatic incident

She had also been visibly moved during her testimony when she said it was only when Wandelt contacted their adult child Amelie that they had decided to take action through authorities. She spoke tearfully as she explained that her daughter and her brother her son had had to face a lot.

Wandelt started crying from the court enclosure in what seemed like an effort to make certain Kate could hear her. She was escorted to the rear of the enclosure, where she shouted: “What is the reason for this treatment?” She was led through the door that goes to the holding area and her crying could be heard echoing in the corridor.

Both defendants deny the charges against them.

The trial continues.