It's a boy for Liz Hurley

2002-04-05 07:05

London - Model and actress Elizabeth Hurley gave birth to a baby boy on Thursday, her spokesperson said.

"Elizabeth Hurley is delighted to announce the birth of her son, Damian Charles," the model's spokesperson said in a statement.

"Both mother and baby are happy and healthy."

But within in minutes of her giving birth, a homeless man was arrested for harassing the actress. p> Scotland Yard said that at 1300 hours police arrested Petar Mihajlovic (32) outside a Kensington address, thought to be Hurley's Chelsea home, and charged him under the Prevention of Harassment Act.

Mihajlovic had already received a formal warning for harassing Hurley last December, said a Scotland Yard spokesperson.

Belgrade-born Mihajlovic was charged with "Carrying out a course of conduct which he knew or believed amounted to harassment of Elizabeth Hurley". Police said he was due to attend West London Magistrates Court on Friday.

Hurley's pregnancy had received intense media attention, with Steve Bing, who has questioned whether he is the father of the baby, becoming involved in a bitter war of words with Hurley.

The millionaire producer has also filed two libel suits against British newspapers.

The first, filed in London last January, responded to a December 22 article in the Daily Mail which claimed that Bing had hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on Hurley with the aim of damaging the actress's reputation.

The second suit was against the Mirror after the tabloid called Bing a "sleazeball" and published his business telephone number with the suggestion that readers should pass on their opinions direct.

Bing, the grandson of New York real estate agent Leo Bing and the producer of such films as Get Carter, reportedly began dating Hurley in the autumn of 2000.

The actress has appeared as the devil in Bedazzled and co-starred in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

- SAPA