Father seeks fresh inquest into Eleanor de Freitas's death
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Version 0 of 1. The father of a trainee accountant who killed herself days before she faced court on suspicion of making a false rape claim is seeking a fresh inquest into her death. David de Freitas has lodged an appeal with the attorney general requesting the quashing of the inquest into 23-year-old Eleanor’s death and the ordering of a new one. De Freitas has also asked the attorney general to consider holding a public inquiry into his daughter’s death, following the inquest in London two months ago at which coroner Chinyere Inyama declined to call the Crown Prosecution Service to give evidence over how it had handled the case. The inquest found that Eleanor’s impending court trial for perverting the course of justice was a “stressor” in her life when she killed herself at the family home in Fulham on 4 April 2014. The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide. David de Freitas said: “My concern has been to explore the conduct of the CPS and their alleged failures in the context of the very important wider public interest issues raised. “I hope that by having a fresh inquest with the scope widened to include the CPS, or a public inquiry, that answers can be found and important lessons learned so that no other vulnerable young woman or her family are forced to deal with what Eleanor and her family have been forced to come to terms with.” The application for the attorney general to reconsider the inquest is backed by a dossier of letters supporting the public interest in having a fresh hearing. The inquest was originally adjourned in November last year to allow Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the chance to examine the CPS decision to take Eleanor de Freitas to court. But despite some failings, it was decided the CPS had acted correctly. |