A shipping magnate’s son has lost his libel action against the father of a woman who accused him of rape after a judge said the comments were made in the public interest.
Alexander Economou said he had pursued his action against David de Freitas, 60, after enduring weeks of “public rubbishing” following articles in the Guardian, on BBC Radio 4 and in the Daily Telegraph, in which De Freitas questioned the actions of the Crown Prosecution Service.
De Freitas’s daughter Eleanor had accused Economou of rape, but when the investigation concluded with no charge, he pursued a private prosecution against her for perverting the course of justice by making up the rape claim.
The CPS took up the case and Eleanor de Freitas, 23, was charged but four days before her trial in April 2014 she took her own life.
In a series of articles in the Guardian, the Telegraph in November and December 2014 and broadcasts on the Radio 4 Today programme, De Freitas raised concerns about the role of prosecutors in the case. Economou sued, saying his reputation had been damaged by the articles.
Economou told the libel court he believed De Freitas’s purpose was to lash out against him in public because he blamed him for his daughter’s death and wanted to take revenge. He said he was left close to a nervous breakdown and was shunned by a number of people.
Mr Justice Warby dismissed the libel claim on Wednesday in the high court. He said two of the articles – in the Daily Telegraph and an article written by De Freitas in the Guardian – did cause “serious harm to his reputation” but the judge upheld the public interest defence raised by De Freitas.
Mr Justice Warby said: “Mr De Freitas could and did properly consider the publication to be in the public interest and ... a judgment in favour of Mr Economou would represent an interference with Mr de Freitas’ free speech rights out of any reasonable proportion to the need to protect and vindicate Mr Economou’s reputation.”
He found that Economou, 37, who had been in a relationship with Elizabeth de Freitas, had pursued the libel action against her father “with sincerity but ... in anger and with elements of vengefulness”.
The fallout from her death has led to both menappearing opposite each other in civil and criminal courtrooms. In June, Economou was cleared at Westminster magistrates court of harassing De Freitas following publicity about the case.
Eleanor de Freitas, a trainee accountant who suffered from bipolar disorder, accused Economou of rape in 2013 but no case was brought against him. Instead, Economou spent £200,000 on a private prosecution of the 23-year-old for perverting the course of justice by making up the rape claim – a case that the CPS eventually took on. De Freitas was charged and four days before her trial in April 2013 she took her own life.
In a series of articles, her father raised concerns about her treatment by the CPS but he never identified Economou nor was his name published.
De Freitas said in his defence he never named Economou and his focus in the comments was on the role and conduct of the CPS and its decision to continue the prosecution of his daughter. “I believed this was not only about my family, but also about other families who would face similar issues,” he told the court. “We wanted to bring some good out of this tragedy and enable lessons to be learned.”
Lawyers for Economou said they intended to appeal.
In a statement released after the hearing, De Freitas said: “The day I received the call from my wife to tell me Eleanor was dead was the worst day of my life.
“The death of our only daughter has had a devastating effect on our family. These libel proceedings commenced just before Christmas 2014, our first Christmas without Eleanor.
“At that time, we were grieving the loss of our only child (as we still are) and trying to deal with her Inquest. These libel proceedings have prolonged our grieving process. My focus has been, and continues to be, the conduct and decision-making of the CPS. I am relieved that the court has accepted my public interest defence in this libel action.”
ends
