A serial liar who posed as an Australian movie star and hoodwinked women into sending her nude photographs before ruthlessly stalking them will now spend more time in jail after losing an appeal.
A Victorian County Court judge on Tuesday increased Lydia Abdelmalek's original jail term, ordering her to spend four years behind bars for hounding her victims with a cast of characters, including Home and Away star Lincoln Lewis.
The 32-year-old's decision to appeal has effectively added an extra year and four months to her original sentence which was handed down in 2019, and which she would have finished by now.
She will now have to serve at least two years and eight months behind bars, her original total sentence, before she can apply for parole.
Judge Claire Quin on Tuesday said she had warned Abdelmalek and her lawyers that she could face harsher prison time.
She criticised the 32-year-old for her "cruel" and "brutal" crimes.
"It was persistent and malicious," the judge said.
"Despite the content of some of the material being reflective of a fictional soap opera, it was not fantasy. It was real and impacted real people.
"It's all too easy and seemingly without consequence for offenders to anonymously torment and deceive those that they encounter in the electronic world."
Abdelmalek did not react as she was sentenced, instead staring into space.
Abdelmalek has never said why she tormented her victims or took on the guise of a movie star, but the County Court on Tuesday heard a possible explanation.
"Perhaps as a protective mechanism for her own perceived inadequacies, Ms Abdelmalek has implemented fantastical thinking in order to develop an online intimate relationship with the victims that she otherwise may not have been able to achieve … allowing her to explore her sexuality with virtual anonymity," Judge Quin said.
"She may have struggled with her own identity or appearance and felt the need to adopt a new persona in order to experience a sense that certain people believe she's worthy of attention."
One of Abdelmalek's victims, known by the pseudonym Emma, who struggled with post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety after the ordeal, has since died by suicide.
Emma's devastated family members flew to Melbourne to hear the verdict and spoke of their relief that the "vicious and unconscionable" saga had finally ended.
"Today justice has finally been served for our family, and also for the many other innocent victims of this cruel and diabolical crime," they told the ABC.
It is also very much a very sad day for our family that our beloved daughter is not here with us.
"Had Ms Abdelmalek not tampered with her life, we are confident that our daughter would be living a happy and fulfilling life.
"She was deeply distressed and in utter despair, and was overwhelmed by the spirit-crushing abuse and torment from which she had no escape."
The family welcomed the judge's verdict and thanked police investigators and prosecutors for pursuing Abdelmalek for years.
"We feel that the increased sentence handed down by Judge Quin is justified, given that Ms Abdelmalek had many opportunities to plead guilty," they said.
"That would have saved the victims from the trouble and trauma of having to give evidence in this case.
It is disappointing that during this long drawn out court case, Ms Abdelmalek has shown no ownership, no accountability, no remorse for her crime.
Lincoln Lewis shares relief at 'justice prevailing'
In a statement on social media after the sentence was handed down, Lincoln Lewis said it was hard to find the words to articulate the feeling of relief that justice had prevailed over Abdelmalek's "cruel and horrendous" actions.
Lewis thanked detectives and the prosecution team for working "tirelessly" over the years "with the greatest amount of professionalism, dedication and empathy".
He also thanked ABC reporter James Oaten, who first reported on the story in 2019, for handling the sensitive case with the "upmost respect for all involved".
"I hope the sentence helps provide the victims, their families & those affected with some closure that can now help everyone heal and move forward," Lewis said.
"Lastly, I hope all of this opens conversations when talking with friends or between parents & their kids about staying safe online.
"Social media is great but always make sure you know who you're talking with & especially, always look out for each other. Much love."
Catfish confronted in court with recordings taken by her victims
Tuesday's sentencing is a significant win for prosecutors who spent close to a year painting Abdelmalek, of Lalor in Melbourne's northern suburbs, as a serial fantasist who "mercilessly" harassed her victims.
The lengthy hearings involved a kilogram of chocolate being tendered into evidence and included Abdelmalek taking the unusual step of giving evidence in her own appeal, a move which defence lawyers usually avoid because it opens up their clients to sustained cross-examination.
When Abdelmalek took to the stand earlier this year, prosecutors confronted her with recordings taken by victims, which appeared to be of her own voice.
Abdelmalek's stalking campaign, which targeted women, started more than a decade ago.
In 2011, Emma received a Facebook request from someone she believed to be Lincoln Lewis, best known for his roles on Home and Away and Tomorrow When The War Began.
The pair hit it off and formed an intense romantic relationship, sending one another intimate photos and videos.
But the nature 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.
"It's going to sound really weird saying it like this, have you and I been dating for the last couple of months," Lewis recalled Emma asking him.
"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 messages.
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 … if it's not prominent on that photo, then to me, it looks doctored," he told the court.
The conversation eventually caused Emma to confront Abdelmalek, who then pretended to be a man called Michael Jason Smith, and claimed that he and his friends had set up a fake Facebook page for the actor and were talking to people as a joke.
The pair began talking and eventually formed another romantic relationship, which was also online.
It was then that Abdelmalek, pretending to be 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 in reality, Abdelmalek was behind the cast of characters and at one stage went as far as staging a fake kidnapping of Michael Jason Smith to keep up her ruse.
Abdelmalek denied building layers of deception
During the appeal, prosecutors put to Abdelmalek that she was trying to punish her victims.
"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," Abdelmalek said 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.
The County Court of Victoria was told Abdelmalek's stalking was extensive and merciless, with Emma receiving up to 60 messages a day, even while working overseas as an international flight attendant.
She died by suicide in 2018.
Abdelmalek also targeted another woman, Jess, while using the Lincoln Lewis persona.
She convinced Jess, also a flight attendant, to send her intimate photos but always pulled out every time they were 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.
During Abdelmalek's 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.
Family calls for new cyberbullying laws
Emma's family on Tuesday paid tribute to her "vivacious personality".
"She was beautiful, confident, and independent; with a very loving, compassionate, kind and generous heart," they said.
"She had a friendly and welcoming nature and was always happy in the company of family and friends. Our beloved daughter will live in our hearts forever."
They also called for new laws to address cyberbullying and catfishing.
"We believe that the best way to honour our daughter would be for us to lobby the federal government to undertake an urgent review of the current laws governing stalking and cyberbullying, and to enact new legislation to effectively address this very disturbing and soul-destroying criminal activity often being orchestrated by faceless cowards," they said.