A leading auctioneer is suing her art dealer ex-boyfriend for £50,000 over claims he carried out a campaign of harassment to ruin her reputation.
Louise Proud, head of photographs at auction house Phillips, claims Raj Prem sent abusive messages calling her “f****** bitch” and “I hope you have a breakdown. You are white trash”.
Miss Proud, from Hampstead, also says emails were sent to her clients under false names accusing her of being mentally unstable.
The alleged abuse she suffered caused her anxiety and stress and was so upsetting she issued a High Court writ against Mr Prem. She is now seeking damages and aggravated damages for libel and harassment, and injunctions to stop the alleged campaign.
In court documents she says they had a relationship from the summer of 2010 until February 2013.
She says when the relationship ended Mr Prem, who sells and exhibits photographs of rock stars as part of his firm Raj Prem Fine Art Photography Limited, started to harass her.
Mr Prem, who also lives in Hampstead, is said to have sent her abusive text messages, emails and voice messages saying “f****** bitch” and “Worst person I have ever met, everyone hates you in business, I hope you have a breakdown. You are white trash”.
Miss Proud said she asked him not to contact her again, but he allegedly followed up with another email describing her as being ungrateful, selfish, venal, and money grubbing, adding he was “full of loathing” for her.
It is claimed Mr Prem continued to text, telephone and email her. He allegedly approached her when she was at a restaurant, ignoring her pleas to leave her alone.
The next day she emailed him to say she was frightened of him. Miss Proud claims Mr Prem replied saying if he saw her in a public place he would not approach her and that he would be grateful if she did not forward his messages to the police who might see them as harassment or abuse.
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But the emails allegedly continued to arrive and, with lawyers becoming involved on both sides, last December Mr Prem claimed Miss Proud was defaming him with false accusations.
She says from February this year Mr Prem started to use two aliases to cause further upset and distress. He allegedly sent an email under the name Clive Wadhurst, in which he said a renowned private dealer had discouraged him from dealing with her.
He is even said to have posed as Wadhurst to contact one of her clients to say galleries in Mayfair had negative things to say about her.
In March Miss Proud’s solicitors challenged Mr Prem to admit he was using the aliases. He categorically denied any involvement with the emails.
Mr Prem is represented by Graham Atkins, who has acted for clients including the Blair family and Michael Jackson. He said his client’s defence would be filed by the end of the month, but declined to comment on the case.
Lawyers for Miss Proud also declined to comment.
