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The mother of missing Madeleine McCann has told the hearing how it was painful to listen to an alleged stalker address her as “mum,” as she insisted to be her long-lost daughter.

Testifying from a shielded position, McCann stated that the actions of the 24-year-old defendant left her terrified and deeply troubled. The accused is alleged to have carried out a two-and-a-half year harassment campaign that culminated with her arrest in February.

The Polish national is accused with repeatedly calling Kate as “mum” on several instances, as she maintained she was Madeleine, who had just turned three when she vanished during a family holiday in the Portuguese resort in the year 2007.

This included a written message signed “Madeleine x.”

This was one instance of a thing that was affecting me deeply,” McCann said. “It’s clear the thing I want the most … is for my daughter to be back and for her to be saying ‘mum’. And that was extremely painful for me.”

McCann continued, “Referring to me as ‘mum’ is difficult.”

Unexpected encounter outside the home

Jurors were informed that the defendant and her co-defendant, a 61-year-old woman from Cardiff, had overwhelmed the McCanns with repeated communications and were waiting near their house on the night of December 7th.

When Kate McCann exited her car by herself, she recalled hearing a voice 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.”

When she turned, she identified Wandelt “almost immediately” from pictures she had sent, she said. “Her image was firmly planted in my mind in any case because of all the communications,” she noted.

“I got a fright and when I realised who it was I felt very upset. I think I’d been on edge already with the ongoing messages and it just bubbled up.”

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

Demand for testing and moment of doubt

The pair had been asking for a DNA test, something McCann said she would have been unable to do without the participation of law enforcement, who had already ruled out the chance that the defendant was her daughter.

She said she had not wanted to indulge the women, but confessed she had experienced a brief hesitation.

“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 was certain …

“I guess having seen a picture of her, and she’s Polish, nothing made any sense.

“I can’t say what my daughter 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 tiny.”

Madeleine’s father gives evidence about that night

Gerry McCann was asked about the same evening in court on the following day. He had returned later than Kate to be faced with the defendants, which he described as “very unpleasant.”

He also talked about being certain the accused was not his lost child and said that at one point he had picked up the call to her.

“I don’t recall my exact words but I said something like: ‘You’re not Madeleine, please stop calling’.”

He struggled to speak through the emotion as he spoke about trying to protect his remaining children from the public attention brought by Madeleine’s case.

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

Heartfelt account and courtroom outburst

Kate McCann had also been emotional during her testimony when she said it was only when the defendant contacted their grown-up daughter her daughter that they had decided to take action through authorities. She spoke tearfully as she noted that Amelie and her twin brother her son had had to face a lot.

The accused started crying from the dock in what appeared to be an attempt to make certain Kate could hear her. She was ushered to the rear of the enclosure, where she shouted: “Why are you doing this to me?” She was taken through the exit that goes to the cells and her weeping could be heard resounding in the hallway.

Wandelt and Spragg deny the allegations against them.

The trial continues.