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Eleanor De Freitas suicide inquest adjourned Eleanor De Freitas suicide inquest adjourned
(35 minutes later)
An inquest into the death of a woman who killed herself after being accused of making a false rape claim has been adjourned pending a review of the case. An inquest into the death of a woman who killed herself days before she was due to face court accused of making a false rape claim has been adjourned.
Eleanor De Freitas, 23, who had bipolar disorder, died in April - days before she was due in court. Director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders said she had asked for a "full explanation" from the team of prosecutors that brought the case.
After police dropped her rape claim, the man she said had attacked her took out a private prosecution alleging she had perverted the course of justice. Eleanor De Freitas, 23, who had bipolar disorder, died in April after leaving notes saying she was scared of court.
Her father David has called for a wider inquiry which would be heard by a jury. Her father David wants the inquest to heard by a jury, not just a coroner.
Ms De Freitas made the rape complaint to the Metropolitan Police in early 2013.
But the man she said had raped her took out a private prosecution, accusing her of perverting the course of justice after police said there was insufficient evidence to pursue the case.
Ms De Freitas' solicitors asked the CPS to halt the private action but instead the CPS decided to take it over and continue it.
Three days before Ms De Freitas was due to stand trial in April, she took her own life.
She had suffered a mental breakdown during her first year at Durham University and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder for which she received medical treatment.
Analysis
By Dominic Casciani, BBC News home affairs correspondent
In January 2011, the then DPP said he would personally oversee decisions to charge people with making a false rape allegation.
Over the following 17 months, lawyers considered 121 alleged false claims and charged in 35 cases.
In other words, taking someone to court for falsely alleging rape is pretty rare.
So the simple question for the CPS is why it thought it was in the public interest to continue with this private prosecution, rather than stop it, given Ms De Freitas' documented mental health problems - and its duty to take all circumstances into account before putting someone in the criminal dock.
Under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, public bodies must account for their actions if they were either involved in a death or they could have done something to prevent it. That typically leads to an inquest before a jury, rather than just before a coroner.
And that is why the family's lawyers want a wider investigation - because they fear that a narrow inquest won't allow the full circumstances of this tragedy to be understood.