A stalker who repeatedly visited the St Albans home of EastEnders and Sex Education actress Mimi Keene has been jailed.
Emilis Lupeikis, of Ada Place, London, was put behind bars for 16 months and handed a restraining order forbidding him from contacting his victim and entering the county of Hertfordshire, after appearing at St Albans Crown Court.
The court heard how Miss Keene first encountered her stalker on March 3 this year, when the 33-year-old approached her at a club in London's Park Lane, as she celebrated her birthday in a VIP area.
He put his hand on her back and asked for her phone number but she declined, explaining she had a boyfriend before going back to dance with friends.
Lupeikis was then seen rummaging through her jacket and was kicked out of the bar, with Miss Keene later finding four business cards with the words 'we will meet again' and 'I am going to take you on a date' written on them.
Then, on the morning of June 24, the 25-year-old actress - who plays Ruby Matthews in the Emmy-award-winning Netflix comedy Sex Education and portrayed Cindy Williams in EastEnders - found a bouquet of white flowers in the garden of her home.
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Later that evening, she heard a knock on the door of her St Albans home and saw Lupeikis outside, holding another bouquet of flowers.
He told her that he had also seen her walking in a nearby forest and in a London bar, also admitting that he had been to her address "a few times"
"I will leave but it's not that I am afraid of your boyfriend," he added.
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. He admitted to stalking Miss Keene and visiting her home on seven occasions.
Richard Mandel, prosecuting, revealed the actress was anxious because Lupeikis knew where she lived, and 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.
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