Catfisher who posed as Lincoln Lewis hears of trauma she caused victims
A Melbourne stalker who impersonated an Aussie television heart-throb to catfish female victims — including one who took her own life — has bizarrely turned up at court with some unusual items.
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A stalker who impersonated Aussie soap star Lincoln Lewis to catfish female victims today sat in court listening to details of the trauma she caused them — while holding photos of the Home And Away actor.
Lalor woman Lydia Abdelmalek, 29, was today sentenced to two years and eight months’ jail after assuming various aliases, including that of Lewis, to launch a relentless years-long stalking campaign that left one victim so traumatised she took her own life.
The woman’s sister spoke on her behalf, reading a statement dated October 2016 to Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court during a sentencing hearing for Abdelmalek, who has been found guilty of six counts of stalking.
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“I have been traumatised beyond belief, pounded with relentless abuse over a long period of time,” the victim wrote.
“The sheer extent and intensity of the stalking over three years ... has had a devastating and lasting effect on my life.”
She said the stalker “cruelly robbed me of three years of my life in exchange for gaining some perverse pleasure”.
She died in October 2018.
Abdelmalek led her to believe through a series on online messages and phone calls that Lewis was in love with her.
The 29-year-old was found guilty of six counts of stalking after harassing the woman, her family and other victims for four years from May 2011.
She called and messaged victims as often as hundreds of times a day.
Abdelmalek went as far as sending explicit images of the woman and vulgar messages to her father, mother and brother-in-law and also threatened to harm her niece.
The victim’s sister said justice had arrived too late.
“(It) will never mitigate the life sentence my family have been served ... a life without my beautiful sister in it,” she sobbed.
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Another woman spoke of how the stalking had turned her from the life of the party to a recluse.
“I feel like I’m unworthy. I’m ashamed of myself and I blame my own stupidity,” she said.
Seeing Lewis, 31, and his father — rugby league great Wally Lewis — in magazines or on TV triggers her post-traumatic stress disorder, she added.
“It’s like I can never get away from what she did to us,” she said.
Abdelmalek will serve a non-parole period of one year and nine months.
She had her arm around her mother as the statements were read.
— People seeking help for mental health problems can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or Kid’s Helpline on 1800 55 1800.