Stalker who terrified former EastEnders star Mimi Keene is jailed

Stalker who terrified former EastEnders and Sex Education star Mimi Keene by turning up at her home SEVEN times is jailed

• Emilis Lupeikis researched the actress’s movements and slipped her love notes
• 25-year-old star said she was left anxious, unable to sleep and unsafe at home 

Former EastEnders and Sex Education star Mimi Keene was left terrified by a stalker who turned up at her home at least seven times and professed his love for her.

Emilis Lupeikis, 33, researched the actress’s movements on social media and began his horrifying campaign by stuffing love notes into the pocket of her jacket while she danced with friends in a West End nightclub.

He tracked Miss Keene to her home in Hertfordshire and began leaving bouquets of flowers in her garden, before hammering on the door and admitting he had been following her because he was ‘in love’.

The 25-year-old star said the ordeal had left her anxious, unable to sleep and feeling unsafe in her own home – which she is now contemplating selling.

Lithuanian-born Lupeikis, from London, was jailed last week for 16 months and handed a restraining order forbidding him from contacting his victim and entering the county of Hertfordshire. 

Former EastEnders and Sex Education star Mimi Keene was harassed by a stalker who researched her movements on social media, turned up at her home seven times and put love notes in her pocket

The 25-year-old star (pictured with James Forde in EastEnders) said the ordeal had left her anxious, unable to sleep and feeling unsafe in her own home – which she is now contemplating selling

Miss Keene first encountered him on March 3 this year when he approached her in a club in London’s Park Lane as she celebrated a friend’s birthday in the VIP area.

He put his hand on her back and asked for her phone number but she declined, explaining she had a boyfriend, St Albans Crown Court heard on Friday.

Miss Keene, who plays Ruby Matthews in the Emmy-award-winning Netflix comedy Sex Education and portrayed Cindy Williams in EastEnders, then went back to dance with her friends.

But a commotion followed when Lupeikis was seen rummaging in her jacket – and he was ejected from the bar. 

Judge Recorder Ian Stern told the hearing that Miss Keene found four business cards inside the jacket with the words ‘We will meet again’ and ‘I am going to take you on a date’ written on them.

‘She disposed of these and it should have been clear then that she did not want to have anything to do with you,’ the judge told Lupeikis, a musician who uses the stage name ‘Cheeky Tongue’.

Almost four months later, on the morning of June 24, Miss Keene found a bouquet of white flowers by a bush in the garden of her home.

Later that evening, she heard a knock on her door and when she looked outside she recognised Lupeikis as the man who from the club. He was holding another bouquet of flowers.

Lupeikis told Miss Keene that he had also seen her walking in a nearby forest and in a London bar.

Emilis Lupeikis, 33, first approached Miss Keene at a club on Park Lane in London in March, when he put his hand on her back and asked for her phone number

He told her: ‘I have been to your address a few times now, and I really like you.’ When she asked him to leave he said: ‘I will leave but it’s not that I am afraid of your boyfriend.’ 

Lupeikis left behind the flowers along with a card that read: ‘Mimi, I love you.’

Miss Keene called the police, who found Lupeikis nearby and arrested him. When interviewed, he admitted stalking Miss Keene and visiting her home on seven occasions.

Richard Mandel, prosecuting, said the actress was anxious because Lupeikis knew where she lived. In her victim impact statement, Miss Keene said his behaviour had left her thinking of moving. ‘I have started just driving around in order to avoid being home alone,’ she added.

Huda Musa, defending, said her client had ‘come to the realisation that his behaviour was beyond inappropriate and beyond obsessive’.

But Judge Stern said the that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.

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