Christopher Jefferies, the landlord wrongly arrested over Joanna Yeates's murder, has said the media "shamelessly vilified" him.
He told the Leveson Inquiry on Monday that he was at the centre of a "frenzied campaign to blacken his character".
Rather than being treated as an innocent man, Jefferies said tabloid newspapers had already decided he was guilty.
"The national media shamelessly vilified me. The UK press set about what can only be described as a witch hunt," he said.
"It was clear that the tabloid press had decided that I was guilty of Miss Yeates's murder and seemed determined to persuade the public of my guilt.
"They embarked on a frenzied campaign to blacken my character by publishing a series of very serious allegations about me which were completely untrue," said the former teacher.
Jefferies said his reputation was ruined after his wrongful arrest. Jefferies said he had been "effectively under house arrest"
"There was another suggestion that I was a bisexual. The press were trying to have it every possible way," he said.
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