A "fantasist" who pretended to be an Australian soap star and catfished multiple women, convincing them to send her intimate photographs and "ruthlessly" stalking them, has lost an appeal against her conviction.
Lydia Abdelmalek, 32, today appeared in the County Court of Victoria which threw out the legal challenge against her conviction for crimes a magistrate previously called "calculated and cruel".
The victory is a significant one for prosecutors who told the appeal judge that Abdelmalek, of Lalor in Melbourne's northern suburbs, was a liar who had "mercilessly" hounded her victims with a "soap opera" cast of characters, including Home and Away star Lincoln Lewis.
Today's verdict comes more than three years after Abdelmalek was initially found guilty of six stalking charges.
Judge Claire Quin said she rejected Abdelmalek's evidence, which she found "inconceivable" and "farcical".
"I am satisfied the appellant was responsible for the stalking behaviour," she said.
"I find therefore each of the charges proven."
In another twist, Judge Quin told the court that a phone seized at Abdelmalek's home during the appeal, in relation to another case, contained "incriminating" evidence.
The court heard there was a wealth of material on the phone which "supported the accounts provided by victims" including hundreds of texts and pictures to the women she stalked, intimate photos and Lincoln Lewis' real voicemail.
"Much of this material was not available at the time of the Magistrates' hearing," Judge Quinn said.
"The enormity of this behaviour could not be over exaggerated."
Family members and friends wept as the verdict was handed down in a packed courtroom.
Abdelmalek did not react.
She has now launched an appeal against her sentence, but has had her bail revoked and will be held in custody.
One of Abdelmalek's victims waved as she was taken away by guards.
Catfish victim thanks police
Today, one of Abdelmalek's victims, Jess, paid tribute to investigators and prosecutors.
"I can't thank them enough," she said.
"The Victorian police have just been amazing and supportive, and the whole prosecution team have worked tirelessly to get us this result.
"Now it's off the streets and hopefully off the keyboard and can't ruin anyone else's lives."
She said she was taking things day by day.
Abdelmalek denies the evidence against her
The verdict comes after a lengthy and, at times, bizarre hearing which lasted close to a year and involved a kilogram of chocolate being tendered into evidence.
In the dying days of her appeal Abdelmalek took the unusual step of taking the stand and giving evidence in her own appeal, a move which is usually avoided because it opens up the accused to intense cross-examination.
Prosecutors also played the 32-year-old recordings, taken by victims, of what appeared to be her own voice.
"That's your voice, isn't it," prosecutor Angela Moran said.
"No, it's not my voice," Abdelmalek said.
"But it sounds identical to you, doesn't it?" the prosecutor said.
"Not from my opinion," Abdelmalek said.
Throughout the appeal Abdelmalek professed her innocence and claimed that she was also the victim of a person pretending to be Lincoln Lewis, who had used her phone to "extensively and ruthlessly" stalk the women.
But Ms Moran said that was a "pack of lies".
"I'm telling you that I lived it and that's exactly what happened," Abdelmalek said.
"Because you always tell the truth," Ms Moran said.
"Oh, not always. I don't think everybody tells the truth a hundred per cent," Abdelmalek said.
Emotionally vulnerable flight attendant targeted
Abdelmalek's campaign of terror against Emma, an international flight attendant, started more than a decade ago.
In 2011, a few weeks after a bad break-up, Emma received a Facebook request from someone she believed to be Lincoln Lewis, an actor best known for his roles on Home and Away and Tomorrow When The War Began.
Emma and the person behind the profile hit it off and it was not long before things took a romantic turn, and the pair began sending each other intimate photos and videos.
But the parameters of their supposed relationship soon began to gnaw at Emma — every time they arranged to meet, there would be an excuse.
It eventually raised enough doubts for her to contact an old friend who put her in touch with the actor.
In September last year, the real Lincoln Lewis took to the witness stand and recalled the conversation.
"That really threw me, and I said, 'What? No, what are you talking about?' And that's when Emma started to sound really stressed and panicked … and then started saying, 'No, tell me you're lying, please tell me you're lying, Linc,'" Lewis told the court.
"This person has photos and videos of me … I thought I was dating you," he recalled Emma telling him.
In reality, the person behind the fake profile was Abdelmalek, who was photoshopping pictures of Lewis and stealing his voicemail.
At one point during the appeal, Lewis pulled open the collar of his shirt to prove that a photo was fake.
"I have two really apparent moles like one's here on my collarbone," he said, gesturing.
"If it's not prominent on that photo, then to me, it looks doctored."
Prosecutors say accused built layers of fake identities
Emma eventually confronted the fake Lincoln Lewis who claimed to be a man called Michael Jason Smith, who said that he and his friends had set up a fake Facebook page for the actor and were talking to people as a joke.
"He said that things got out of hand and he became interested in me," Emma said.
The pair began talking and eventually formed another romantic relationship, also completely online.
It was then that Michael Jason Smith said that his real name was actually Danny Jason MacGreene, and that he had been using a fake name to escape an ex.
But prosecutors say that none of those characters were real and, in reality, it was all Abdelmalek, who even went as far as staging a fake kidnapping of Michael Jason Smith.
"When she realised that you were not actually Lincoln Lewis, you created another deception to persuade her that you were Michael Smith, what do you say to that," said the prosecutor, Ms Moran.
"No," said Abdelmalek, under cross-examination.
"When she tried to pull away from you, you mercilessly exploited the fact that you had those intimate videos and images," the prosecutor said.
"No," she said.
Friends and family document relentless barrage of abuse
Witnesses told the County Court that the stalking campaign against Emma was relentless and cruel.
Her father told the court that Emma was receiving up to 60 messages a day, even while she was overseas at work.
"There was no let up," he said.
"She used to stay with us the day before she travelled and this particular morning, I heard a bit of a commotion in the bathroom and I got up to investigate.
"I found my wife with [her] and [she] was crying and staring at her phone. She was all dressed up to go to work and she was just shaking like a leaf and sobbing."
Emma took her own life in 2018.
Abdelmalek also targeted another woman, Jess, while pretending to be Lincoln Lewis.
Like her other victim, Abdelmalek struck up an intense romantic relationship with Jess, and went as far as helping her victim's daughter with homework.
She also convinced Jess to send intimate photos but, like with Emma, pulled out every time they were meant to meet.
When Jess also became suspicious, she managed to contact the real Lincoln Lewis through a mutual friend and learned she had been scammed.
She later convinced Abdelmalek to transfer her money for a broken phone screen as part of a sting with detectives, who managed to trace the cash back to the catfish.
Abdelmalek accused of 'fantasy land' thinking
Abdelmalek was arrested at Victoria's maximum security Baron Prison in 2017, where she was a youth worker.
During her appeal, she told a judge that she was also duped by a fake Lincoln Lewis, who she contacted on Facebook because she wanted to follow in his career footsteps.
"I wanted to become an actor. I think it was just a thing that I wanted to do and I started asking people on Facebook what acting classes I could possibly do," she said.
Under cross-examination from her own lawyer, Abdelmalek said that she was told to transfer money into Jess' account by someone pretending to be Lewis.
"I had asked him, at the time, if I could pay him for his acting advice," Abdelmalek said.
"He gave me a bank account and he said that he didn't want the money. But there was somebody that he knew that was a single mum that was struggling and to put the money into this account and he'll pay it.
"And then I went into Westpac and deposited the money and they gave me a receipt."
When prosecutors put to Abdelmalek that a phone had been uncovered in her possession containing messages to Emma, intimate images of Emma, and Lincoln Lewis' voicemail, she shrugged it off.
She said that the messages arrived on her phone when she recharged her credit balance.
"What you're saying is absolute fantasy land, it can't happen," the prosecutor, Ms Moran, said.
"You are the catfisher who created deception around these people to the point where they couldn't live their lives any more," the prosecutor put to her.
"No," Abdelmalek said.
*Names and some details have been changed to protect victims.
