By Australian Associated Press
Published: 11:41 BST, 21 May 2019 | Updated: 11:42 BST, 21 May 2019
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A woman who posed as an Aussie soap opera heart-throb to prey on young women has failed in a court bid to keep her family out of the public eye.
Melbourne's Lydia Abdelmalek, 29, was found guilty of six counts of stalking after assuming various aliases, including Home and Away actor Lincoln Lewis.
Her lawyer John Yianoulatos made an unsuccessful bid for a suppression order to be placed over her church, her job and siblings' employers during a special mention hearing at Heidelberg Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Abdelmalek (pictured) was found guilty of stalking six people and is due to be sentenced in June
Actor Lincoln Lewis has slammed the manipulative 'catfish' who pretended to be the Home and Away star to get woman to fall in love with her
'There were threats made to my client's safety...but her family has not received threats,' Mr Yianoulatos told the court, before the application was dismissed.
However, magistrate Stephen Ballek placed a suppression order on the names of victims and their families to 'avoid causing undue distress and embarrassment'.