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Woman who accused journalist of harassment arrested

The woman whose complaints led to a regional reporter being served with a harassment notice by police has been arrested and bailed.

Croydon Advertiser reporter Gareth Davies said officers told him he faced arrest if he continued with his investigations into Neelam Desai. He said officers likened his behaviour to that of News of the World phone hackers.

As previously reported by HTFP, Gareth was served with a notice at his newspaper’s offices after doorstepping and emailing 33-year-old Neelam Desai, of Beulah Grove, Selhurst, as part of an ongoing investigation by the newspaper.

The case prompted outrage among civil liberties and press freedom groups.

Today the Advertiser carried a front page outlining the latest developments in its investiagtions.

The paper has also sent a solicitor’s letter to the Met.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the letter had been received and said: “We are currently considering its contents. It would be appropriate to comment any further on this case at this time.”

The Met said police in Croydon yesterday arrested a 33-year-old woman on suspicion of 10 counts of fraud by false representation.

A spokesman said: “She has since been bailed to return to a south London police station to a date in mid-August pending further enquiries.”

7 comments

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  • April 17, 2014 at 12:04 pm
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    Just because she has been arrested does not mean she is guilty .
    It does not give the journalist the right to harass anyone , all respect put the news in the public eyes but I’m certain he is not revealing exactly what has happend.

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  • April 17, 2014 at 6:34 pm
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    Chris –
    Gareth did not harrass anybody, he is a competent professional reporter with many years under his belt. He has given this woman plenty of opportunity of putting her side of the story across.
    The only people being harrassed her has been the reporter, oh and if you want to know why she has been arrested I suggest you read the Advertiser before jumping to conclusions.

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  • April 19, 2014 at 11:22 am
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    Keep up the good work at Croydon. Can’t believe comments of first post.

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  • April 20, 2014 at 2:02 pm
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    Mr Tog….jump to conclusions? Headline says, “today we are able to expose the huge scale of her cons” she has not even been charged in connection with these new allegations. The top bullet points say she conned the victim?..should there be a claims, or allegedly? not defending her or the shocking response from the Met, but that front page is sloppy to say the least

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  • April 22, 2014 at 3:13 pm
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    Huge kudos to the Advertiser for:
    Giving a journalist the time and space to run a proper investigative story
    Backing that journalist when things got ‘challenging’
    Sticking with the story despite unwarranted pressure from the big guns
    And most of all:
    Giving us some much-needed reassurance that there are local journalists covering things more important than flower festivals and retirements.

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  • April 22, 2014 at 10:34 pm
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    Chris, those listings of her on the splash seem to be of previous convictions so totally within their rights to publish

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  • April 24, 2014 at 10:57 am
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    Still can’t quite work out how the reporter had a ‘conversation through the letterbox’ with her after she had closed the door.
    How did that come about?

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