Amelie McCann told a court that Julia Wandelt was "desperate" to convince her she was missing Madeleine and had claimed her memories included playing 'ring-a-ring-a-roses' as a child.

The court heard Wandelt allegedly sent the 20-year-old numerous social media messages and letters. The first, in January 2024, allegedly read: "I know so many things. I don't know if this is the real account for Amelie McCann but I can tell you my memories."

As it happened: Madeleine McCann's sister tells trial of 'creepy' messages

Ms McCann told Leicester Crown Court it was "quite disturbing that she's coming up with these supposed memories," as she was clearly not her sister.

"It makes me feel quite uncomfortable because it is quite creepy she is giving those details and trying to play with my emotions," she said.

Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007. She has never been found.

Wandelt, 24, from Lubin in Poland, denies subsequently stalking the family.

However, Madeleine's sister told the trial Wandelt had sent "persistent" messages urging her and her mother to take a DNA test, as well as images that were "clearly altered or edited".

In one instance, she allegedly printed pictures of herself and Amelie McCann and sent them to the family's home address.

A separate online message is said to have shown an image of her and Wandelt side-by-side.

"She'd clearly edited the pictures to make me look more like her, which was disturbing," Ms McCann told the court. "I didn't look like that and I knew it had been changed."

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

Amelie McCann gave evidence remotely on Thursday, a day after her parents also described the distress they had felt, including when the defendants allegedly turned up at their house last December.

She told the court she was scared by a message from Wandelt, which allegedly stated she would "do whatever to prove my identity" as Madeleine.

"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 would do next," said Ms McCann.

She said she had blocked Wandelt on multiple social media sites, but that her alleged actions were hardest for her mother, Kate.

"It definitely took a toll on her and her wellbeing because all the time her phone would be going off and it would be Julia," she said.

Following the alleged December visit by Wandelt and her co-defendant 61-year-old Cardiff woman Karen Spragg - who also denies stalking - Ms McCann said she returned home from university and her parents had strengthened security.

They told her there was "an alarm we could press and alert the police," the court heard.

'Upsetting and disrespectful'

Amelie's twin, Sean McCann, also gave evidence via a written statement in which he said Wandelt had caused a "great deal of stress".

He said her claim to be his sister was "upsetting" and "deeply disturbing" - but that he felt "guilty" for feeling that way as he believes she might be suffering with a mental health condition.

However, he added: "If she is fully aware she is not Madeleine, yet makes these claims she is, that will be very upsetting for me."

Sean McCann, 20, told the court he had also received Instagram messages from Wandelt but immediately blocked her.

A friend of the McCanns, Ellie McQueen, was the final witness on Thursday morning and said Wandelt had sent her "relentless" messages online.

She told jurors the first was on Facebook in June 2024 from the profile "Julia Julia".

Ms McQueen said Wandelt asked for help to contact the McCanns: "She seemed to know my mum was very close with Kate," she told the court.

"She was trying to send me DNA evidence to say she is Maddie," she told the court, adding that Wandelt seemed "upset and aggravated".

One message allegedly sent by the defendant asks why Kate and Gerry McCann did not turn up to a vigil for Madeleine in their village, which she attended.

In other messages, Wandelt allegedly said she "remembered" a life with Kate and Gerry McCann and even claimed to have the same "spot in my right eye" and "lots of the same moles" as Madeleine.

The trial continues.

The charges relate to seven different women during a period from 1983 to 2016, the Metropolitan Police said.

Officers say the youngest was aged 17 at the time of the alleged assault.

The 68-year-old is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday 10 November.

Westwood has previously denied all allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

What are the charges?

Police have said the former BBC broadcaster is alleged to have indecently assaulted a 17-year-old girl in the Fulham area of London in 1983.

He is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s in the Vauxhall area of London in 1986, as well as raping and sexually assaulting a woman, aged between 17 and 18, in London between 1995 and 1996.

Westwood is alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted a woman aged 17 to 18 between 2000 and 2001 and raped a woman in her 20s in 2010 - with the alleged offences also reported to have taken place in London.

He is further accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 2010 and sexually assaulting another woman in her 20s in the Finchley area of London in 2016.

Police investigation still open

Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "It takes courage to come forward and report allegations of this nature.

"The women who have done so have put their trust in us and we continue to provide them with all available support.

"Our investigation remains open and we'd encourage anyone who has been impacted by this case, or anyone with information, to come forward and speak with us."

When the first accusations surfaced in April 2022, his representative issued a statement saying he "strongly rejects all allegations of wrongdoing".

Decades of broadcasting

Westwood began his broadcasting career in local radio before joining Capital Radio in the late 1980s.

He moved to the BBC in 1994, working on Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra, spending nearly 20 years with the corporation. He left the BBC in 2013.

Westwood then joined Capital Xtra, hosting a regular Saturday show where he was referred to as "The Big Dawg", before he left the company in 2022.

The 30-year-old was detained at 12.34pm on Thursday on suspicion of failing to disclose information about an act of terrorism, said Greater Manchester Police.

The unnamed suspect had been arrested on 2 October on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism following the terror attack in Crumpsall last week.

Following his rearrest on Thursday, the man has since been released on bail with conditions.

It has now been revealed that last Thursday, 35-year-old Jihad al Shamie rang 999 during his deadly rampage, pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State terror group.

He drove his car at Jews gathering at the Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue for the holy day of Yom Kippur, then attacked others with a knife and tried to storm the synagogue, wearing a fake suicide belt, before armed police shot him dead.

Father-of-three Melvin Cravitz, 66, was killed in the attack, along with Adrian Daulby, 53, who was believed to have been inadvertently shot by police as he ran to block the synagogue doors to stop al Shamie getting inside to continue his knife rampage.

Read more:
The father of Jihad al Shamie calls for unity
How attacker became radicalised

On Wednesday, the police watchdog said it had found no evidence of misconduct in the police's actions.

But the three Greater Manchester Police officers who fired their weapons are being treated as witnesses and the case remains under review, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said.

Counter-terror police believe al Shamie, a Syrian-born UK citizen, was influenced by extremist Islamist ideology.

Despite claiming to act on behalf of Islamic State, MI5 has reportedly been unable to establish any links between al Shamie and the terror group or other proscribed organisations.

Counter-terror police initially arrested six people in connection with the attack, releasing two without charge on Saturday.

The four others arrested were released without charge on Wednesday, a day ahead of one's rearrest.

George Berry and Benjamin Cross, both from Southampton, led a gang of 12 thieves who stole cars mostly from driveways while their owners were asleep, Hampshire Constabulary said.

The gang used signal boosters to trick keyless ignition vehicles that the key fob was close by so it could be unlocked and 'signal jammers' to prevent vehicles from being locked in the first place, with the owner unaware the key fob had not worked.

They would then "return in the middle of the night to drive the unlocked cars away," a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said.

They took the cars, 76 of which were stolen from addresses in Hampshire, 28 from Dorset and three from Wiltshire, between February and October 2023, to a "chop shop" to be stripped for parts.

The makes included Land Rover, Range Rover, Jaguar, Mercedes, Audi, Bentley, Lexus, Hyundai, Citroen and Ford as well as motorcycles and Ford vans containing thousands of pounds worth of tools.

Berry, 32, and Cross, 25, who played "leading roles in the conspiracy", were jailed for 56 months and 64 months respectively at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday.

They were both convicted of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, conspiracy to handle stolen goods, and possession of criminal property. Cross, from the Bursledon area of the city, was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Detective Constable Paul Beasley said: "The vast majority of the vehicles were stolen by these thugs in the middle of the night from driveways as the owners slept.

The victims suffered both "vast" financial hurt and mental harm from the distress of losing their vehicles, the officer said.

"For many people, having their car stolen can completely disrupt their day-to-day lives as these are relied upon so much for their work commutes, school runs, grocery shopping and social lives."

Read more on Sky News:
Madeleine McCann's sister targeted by stalker
Ex Radio 1 DJ charged with rape
Synagogue attacker's father calls for unity

Bradley Paddick, 22, of Southampton, was jailed for 36 months for conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Rachael Moran, 31, of Southampton, was jailed for a year, suspended for 18 months, for possession of criminal property. Charlotte Traves, 24, of Bursledon, Southampton, was given an 18-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months for possession of criminal property and perverting the course of justice.

Seven other members of the conspiracy are to be sentenced next month.

Construction worker Husamettin Dogan, 44, was the only one of 51 men convicted last December in the harrowing mass rape trial to appeal against his verdict.

The trial was covered around the world and turned Ms Pelicot into a global icon after she opposed a closed hearing - a demand made by several defendants. The court sided with her.

Those convicted included Dominique Pelicot, Ms Pelicot's ex-husband, who knocked her unconscious by lacing her food and drink with drugs before offering her to strangers he met online between 2011 and 2020, filming their assaults.

Dogan had been sentenced to nine years in prison in the initial trial.

He was tried on charges of aggravated rape by administering substances that impair judgement or self-control, which could have been punished by up to 20 years in prison.

The prosecutor in the appeal case in Nimes, southern France, asked for a 12-year sentence, French media reported.

"One cannot, in 2025, think that because she said nothing, that she agreed. Because that kind of thinking belongs to another era!" the prosecutor told the court, according to Le Monde newspaper.

Read more from Sky News:
Tim Westwood charged with four counts of rape
Could Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Dogan had denied he intended to rape Ms Pelicot and claimed he was deceived by her husband.

Dominique Pelicot was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison after admitting his role. He did not appeal.

Husband filmed assaults

Sentences for the other convicted men, who were found guilty of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault, ranged from three to 15 years in prison.

One of them was also convicted of drugging and raping his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help.

Evidence presented at the trial included horrific videos of rapes and assaults Dominique Pelicot filmed in the couple's home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.

In November, civil proceedings in the southern French city of Avignon are due to settle damages owed to Ms Pelicot and her family, to be paid jointly by the convicted men.

Ms Pelicot has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence, and the case has spurred a national reckoning over rape culture in France.