Melbourne woman who impersonated Lincoln Lewis receives longer sentence for stalking as appeal fails
A Melbourne woman who impersonated soap stars to attract victims online before stalking and harassing them has been sentenced to more time behind bars after losing an appeal.
Lydia Abdelmalek appeared in Melbourne’s county court on Tuesday, where she was re-sentenced to four years in prison following a lengthy appeal of her 2019 sentence.
The 32-year-old failed to overturn her conviction for six stalking charges earlier this year and then pursued an appeal of her two-year and eight-month sentence.
She must now serve two years and eight months before she will be eligible for parole, an increase from her previous one-year and nine-month minimum term.
Abdelmalek pretended to be Home and Away star Lincoln Lewis and others, such as English actor Danny Mac, to lure in three victims using social media over several years from May 2011.
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One victim took her own life in 2018, but penned a statement in 2016 outlining the trauma of being duped into believing the TV star was in love with her.
Abdelmalek went as far as sending explicit images of the woman and vulgar messages to the woman’s father, mother, sister and brother-in-law.
During the appeal, the woman’s family said the prolonged legal process had delayed their grief and re-traumatised them.
The woman’s sister called for the court to use the appeal as an opportunity to increase Abdelmalek’s sentence because she “is a danger to society”.
Another woman who was scammed said the appeal should be used to “send a message” about the consequences of serious online abuse.
Abdelmalek’s victims and their families appeared in court for the sentencing, as judge Claire Quin heeded their calls for an extended sentence.
She said she had warned Abdelmalek and her lawyers “a number of times” that she may impose a more severe jail term if they continued to pursue the appeal.
“This matter proceeded despite an overwhelming prosecution case and full knowledge of the additional stress that flows to the victims as a result,” Quin told the court.
She described Abdelmalek’s offending as “persistent and malicious”, as she said she had spent thousands of hours pursuing her victims online in secret.
“The appellant created a web of false identities and characters,” Quin
said.
“Despite the content of some of the material being reflective of soap opera, it was not fantasy – it was real and impacted real people.
“What may begin as lighthearted, quickly can escalate to have significant consequences for the psychological wellbeing of those to whom the risk is directed.”
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Indigenous crisis hotline 13 YARN 13 92 76. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org