Celebrity photographer’s ex-wife charged with murder of their disabled son, ten
A world-renowned photographer paid tribute to his son yesterday as his ex-wife appeared in court charged with the boy’s murder.
dean Freeman said he ‘can’t begin to comprehend his loss’ after the body of ten-year-old dylan – who was severely disabled – was found at the home he shared with his mother, olga Freeman, on Sunday morning.
Mr Freeman, who has photographed A-list stars such as david Beckham and the Spice Girls, said: ‘dylan was a beautiful, bright, inquisitive and artistic child who loved to travel, visit art galleries and swim. we travelled extensively over the years together spending such memorable time in places including Brazil, France and Spain. I can’t begin to comprehend his loss.’
The photographer’s representative said Mr Freeman, 56, was in Spain and was ‘beyond devastated’. The spokesman said: ‘He was a loving and caring father and even though divorced for a number of years, he cherished all the quality time spent with his son’.
Mrs Freeman, 40, originally from Moscow, appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with dylan’s murder. She was arrested after walking into a police station in the early hours of Sunday, and dylan’s body was later found at their £550,000 home in Acton, west london.
neighbours said she had been struggling during lockdown to care for dylan, who had to use a wheelchair and was unable to speak.
Abby Gorton said: ‘She was in a desperate situation and lockdown has made it more desperate.
‘He was a very, very severely disabled child. He was very autistic, he didn’t speak, he would only scream and flail. I always felt terribly sorry for her and should have done more to help her.’
dylan’s former part-time carer, rayesh Shukla, said: ‘He had a lot of disabilities, couldn’t speak and was prone to sudden outbursts, when he’d start kicking his arms and legs and throwing things around.
‘My work involved taking him out to the park for a couple of hours so that olga could have some time to herself.
‘I only did it about three or four times, but it was too much for me so had to tell her that I couldn’t continue. I found it very stressful so I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her. I only saw her last week and she looked really drained and tired.’
neighbour Keith Grindrod, 73, said he had been woken up by a child’s scream from the home next door in the middle of the night.
Mrs Freeman, who has been divorced from dylan’s father for some years, appeared in court wearing a grey top. She spoke to confirm her name, date of birth and address before the legal adviser read out the single charge of murder.
Police said no one else was being sought in connection with dylan’s death.
Mr Freeman took the photographs for david Beckham’s bestselling book My world, and his 1999 image of the former england captain and his wife Victoria was exhibited in the national Portrait Gallery. He has photographed liz Hurley, Harold Pinter and shot the photos for the Spice Girls’ official biography, Spice Forever.
His father, robert Freeman, was one of music’s best-known photographers and shot the first five album covers for the Beatles, including Help!, A Hard day’s night and rubber Soul.
He also photographed nikita Khrushchev in the Kremlin, Muhammad Ali and Charlton Heston, and produced notable blackand-white photos of jazz stars, including John Coltrane.
robert Freeman died of pneumonia in 2019. His wife, Sonny Freeman drane, was a German model who is said to have had an affair with John lennon.
The 1965 song norwegian wood was written about the relationship, according to lennon’s biographer, Philip norman.
Mrs Freeman was remanded in custody and will appear at the old Bailey tomorrow.
‘She was in a desperate situation’