BREAKING NEWS: Catfish case twist as hairdresser accused of inventing a fake boyfriend for her ex-lover is granted immunity from prosecution
- Camila Zeidan, 27, granted immunity over evidence given at a coronial inquest
- That can only be revealed after Daily Mail Australia applied for special permission
- Ms Zeidan’s ex Renae Marsden died by suicide at Sydney’s The Gap in 2013
- Coroner is investigating whether Miss Marsden had learned she had been ‘catfished’
A woman who allegedly ‘catfished’ her ex-girlfriend before her suicide has been granted immunity from prosecution over evidence she is giving at an inquest.
Camila Zeidan, 27, has been giving evidence this week at a coronial inquest into the death of her ex-lover and schoolmate, Renae Marsden, at The Gap in August 2013.
The inquest is investigating if Miss Marsden discovered her ‘boyfriend’ Brayden was concocted by Camila before her death.
Coroner Elaine Truscott granted Ms Zeidan a certificate under section 61 of the Coroner’s Act earlier this week after her lawyer objected to her giving evidence, claiming she could incriminate herself.
Renae Marsden (left) and Camila (right) went to Mt St Benedict’s College together and were in a relationship at school. Renae moved on after school, but the inquest has heard claims Camila actively tried to break up their relationship – and then catfished her as a man named ‘Brayden’
The coroner told Ms Zeidan the certificate means ‘the evidence you give in these proceedings cannot be used against you in any other proceedings in a NSW court’.
But the fact Ms Zeidan was given immunity to give her evidence can only be revealed after Daily Mail Australia applied for special permission from the Coroner.
Daily Mail Australia argued that reporting the fact of Ms Zeidan’s immunity was strongly in the public interest.
Coroner Elaine Truscott said on Thursday Ms Zeidan’s evidence did not, in fact, incriminate her in any offence.
The granting of immunity does not mean she cannot be prosecuted by police over any evidence collected outside of the inquest.
More to come