Lydia Abdelmalek freed on bail following fresh stalking charges

A booklet of screenshots and a picture of a semi-nude man taped to a phone were allegedly seized from the home of a catfish stalker who once posed as a Home And Away heart-throb.

Lydia Abdelmalek freed on bail following fresh stalking charges. Picture: AAP

A bound booklet containing pages of screenshots was among more than a dozen items seized by police on a raid of a catfish stalker’s home.

Eight police officers searched the bedroom of the Lalor home Lydia Abdelmalek, 31, shared with her parents on the morning of April 21, finding multiple phones, laptops and memory cards.

One iPhone allegedly had a picture of a semi-nude man plastered on the back, while another SD card had the name “Luke” sticky taped to it.

It comes as the alleged victims told police they believed they were being closely watched and stalked by Abdelmalek who claimed she had spotted the secret couple on an outing.

“Both victims believed they were physically followed by (Abdelmalek) as their outing was last minute and know one knew about it,” a summary stated.

Lydia Abdelmalek outside the County Court last May. Picture: AAP

Abdelmalek, who previously posed as a Home And Away heart-throb, has been freed on bail following fresh charges in which she allegedly boasted she was “very famous” to her victim before harassing the woman and her secret partner.

She was released from custody on Monday afternoon following allegations she stalked a woman between May 2020 and March this year.

Abdelmalek is also accused of stalking a married man – who police believe was in a secret, intimate relationship with the woman – for about four months.

Abdelmalek, of Lalor, was already on bail at the time of the alleged offending after launching an appeal against a jail term for her previous catfish scams where she posed as Australian actor Lincoln Lewis to dupe female victims.

She was handed a two year and eight month sentence in June 2019 for stalking women over the internet, with one woman so traumatised by the ordeal she took her own life a year earlier.

A police prosecutor on Monday told the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court the fresh charges were of “exactly the same nature” as Abdelmalek’s previous con.

In a summary of allegations released by the court, police allege Abdelmalek met her female victim in a shop in Epping Plaza before sparking a friendship and adding her on social media in May 2020.

A few months later, Abdelmalek met the woman and said: “Do you know I’m very famous? Do you watch the news?”

“I’m accused that I’m stalking people but they are setting me up,” she allegedly told the woman.

The summary alleges Abdelmalek began to ask the woman intimate questions about her relationship with the man which was not publicly known.

By March 2021, police allege she confronted the woman at work and said: “Do you want to play these games?”

Lydia Abdelmalek posed as Aussie actor Lincoln Lewis during her earlier con. Picture: John Gass

Police allege Abdelmalek used several fake aliases online to harass the man and woman.

“She befriends people, she gets into a relationship with them … (the victim) is so embarrassed about the fact she’s been in a relationship,” the police prosecutor told the court.

“The previous witnesses and victims in the last case were exceptionally embarrassed that they were duped,” he said.

However defence lawyer Sam Norton argued the fresh allegations were “demonstrably false” and one of the alleged victims had provided “edited” text messages to police.

“There are very, very substantial problems with this case,” Mr Norton said.

“The complainant has presented a picture to police which is demonstrably false, not just incorrect, but false and deliberately misleading,” he said.

Magistrate Meghan Keogh said the bail application was not the time for her to rule on the veracity of charges but to decide whether Abdelmalek should be released on bail.

The court heard pandemic-sparked delays meant the long-awaited catfishing appeal was yet to be heard in the County Court, and Abdelmalek was “effectively coming before the court with no prior history”.

Mr Norton also argued his client’s time on remand may surpass any sentence she faces if the new charges were proven.

Ms Keogh ultimately ruled Abdelmalek could be freed under strict conditions including a blanket ban on using any form of social media.

The matter will return to court in August.