Today, I noticed a "Press Release" circulating on social media, authored by David de Freitas and reposted by the journalist Julie Bindel, to her many thousands of followers.
The headline reads:
"CPS incompetent delay leaves Eleanor de Freitas's bereaved parents facing loss of their home after 12-year fight for justice"
Read that and you would assume they are being evicted because of mounting legal costs, due to the improper conduct of the Crown Prosection Service.
But no. The lawyers have represented Mr de Freitas free-of-charge. There were no legal costs on his part.
And, in any event, his legal case against the CPS concluded in 2018, when the Attorney General made a public statement, saying that the prosecution of his daughter [for making a false rape complaint] was handled correctly.
So, if it's not the CPS, then why is he losing his home?
The answer:
In August 2022, Judge Passfield at the High Court ordered Mr de Freitas to pay £130,812.26 in unpaid taxes and penalties.
At paragraph 7 and 8 of the judgment, the court recorded that "HMRC presented a bankruptcy petition against the Debtor for unpaid self-assessment tax, interest and penalties in the tax years from 1998/99 to 2000/01 and 2005/06 to 2012/13" and "since at least the 1998/99 tax year, the Debtor has carried on business as a financial adviser on a self-employed basis".
A financial adviser. Eleven tax-years of unpaid tax. All before his daughter Eleanor was prosecuted.
He didn't pay. He was declared bankrupt in May 2023.
An important detail or two, you might think, to leave out of a press release about losing your home. The GoFundMe page, presumably, won't be far behind.
The reason Mr de Freitas found himself bankrupt, has nothing to do with the CPS. The fact is, he is not good with money (or taxes). A few years ago a former client emailed me:
"You have my sympathy. Years ago I was friends with David (we were at college together) and he used our friendship to sell my mother some investments that turned out to be worthless... it is amazing that he is allowed to carry on."
Even his daughter complained that the family house had been "lost and somehow recovered" on one or more occasions, in paragraph 8.2 of her psychiatric report.
In other words, whilst she was alive, not after her death. And certainly not because of the CPS as Mr de Freitas now alleges.
But there's good news for de Freitas: The value of his property is £900,000 according to him (at paragraph 79 of the judgement), which far exceeds the £130k tax bill and £6k mortgage. He won't be homeless anytime soon, but may have to 'downgrade' from SW6 to Wandsworth. No need for that fundraiser quite yet.
Bankruptcy: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4367852
Below: Press Release of David de Freitas 16/5/2026 being promoted on Facebook by journalist Julie Bindel.
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| Journalist Julie Bindel reposting the press release. |
