Hearing transcripts

10 March 2008 - Morning session

1 Monday, 10th March 2008
2 (9.30 am)
3 (Jury present)
4 MR ERIC GIGOU (recalled)
5 (evidence via videolink, interpreted)
6 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Good morning, Mr Gigou, can you
7 hear us?
8 A. Yes, I can, good morning, sir.
9 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: You are still on the oath that
10 you took on the last occasion so you are still bound by
11 that. There is no necessity to take the oath again.
12 I understand that there is something M Gigou wishes
13 to say before he gives his evidence; is that correct?
14 THE INTERPRETER: Yes, it is my understanding, sir and
15 I have just found out, so I am going to try to translate
16 it for you but obviously this is not going to be an
17 accurate translation because it is the translation
18 orally of a written document which I have never seen
19 before.
20 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I am sure you will do very well.
21 THE INTERPRETER: Thank you.
22 Witness's statement regarding BRIAN ANDERSON
23 "I present myself before this court in order to help
24 and assist for the manifestation of the truth, even
25 though the investigation led by the police and French

1
1 justice has put in light what was to be thought of
2 the events that happened on 31st August 1997. I have
3 done it out respect for the British judicial
4 institutions and because I have respect for the families
5 of the three victims -- that is the Princess of Wales,
6 Mr Henri Paul and Mr Dodi Al Fayed -- but also for
7 Trevor Rees-Jones and because I think that the families
8 of those victims should be able to hear the people who
9 have contributed to the explanation of this catastrophe,
10 of this horrible event.
11 "Lastly, concerning the big echo that matter had in
12 the media, it is normal that all the light should be
13 brought to the circumstances that cost the lives of
14 these three people and badly injured a fourth one.
15 Nevertheless, I would like to come back to the questions
16 that have been asked of me on 4th February 2008 when
17 I first was heard as a witness before this court
18 concerning an individual whose name is Brian Anderson
19 who pretended to have been heard by me in 1997 within
20 the framework of the investigation.
21 "As I asked the court, some elements of information
22 have been communicated to me so that I could know
23 a little bit more about the statements made by this
24 individual who has named me in person and said that
25 I was implicated.

2
1 "Thanks to the internet address of the case, I have
2 been able to read the testimony of Brian Anderson that
3 he made on 23rd October 2007. In light of all of those
4 lies that have been more than questioned by the lawyer
5 that represents the British police on 23rd October 2007,
6 I affirm today under oath again, as I did on
7 4th February last, that I have never heard testimony by
8 this person that I have never met.
9 "In fact, not only the testimony of this individual
10 is not consistent -- and that has been shown on
11 23rd October 2007 when he was heard within this forum --
12 but also to accuse me of not having put in file his
13 so-called testimony is just ridiculous. In fact,
14 I would not have any kind of interest, be it
15 professional or personal, to conceal his testimony, be
16 it very surprising.
17 "I recall in this regard that during my numerous
18 investigations in this matter, I have been led to hear
19 the most astonishing testimonies by people who
20 apparently wanted to become a little bit more famous,
21 pretending that they were witnesses of the events.
22 These lies that I have heard and put in minutes and put
23 in the judicial file have been shown to be wrong. There
24 would not be any kind of credible reason then that
25 I would not do the same thing as far as the statements

3
1 by this Brian Anderson were concerned.
2 "As far as truly statements by real witnesses,
3 I have heard several and I have never tried to conceal
4 any of them. All of that is attested by the French
5 procedure which has been translated for the court.
6 "Finally, I would like to remind court also of
7 the fact that to conceal testimonies within
8 the framework of a judicial investigation, bearing in
9 mind that the investigation in question would obviously
10 be examined with a lot of tension because it concerned
11 a very important person, is a professional fault that is
12 sanctioned subject to penalty by the administration and
13 judicial authorities and that is in fact a criminal
14 action that is punished by law.
15 "So I note that the acts that I am accused of by
16 Brian Anderson have never been brought to my knowledge
17 by the French authorities, that would have been
18 completed to lead a judicial action against me. Brian
19 Anderson preferred to give interviews to the press.
20 I do not know whether Brian Anderson was or was not
21 a witness of anything, but the debate before this court
22 on 23rd October 2007 seems to show that he could not
23 have been in the tunnel at the time of these events and
24 the physical description of myself does not fit me.
25 "Also, whatever is to the fault of it, he was not

4
1 heard by the French police and as a matter of fact, he
2 was not heard by me. I think for those reasons, I have
3 been subject to defamation by Brian Anderson who has
4 lied to the British police on the occasion of his
5 various testimonies of several pages as from 2004 and
6 he lied under oath before this court on 23rd
7 October 2007 quoting my name.
8 "Brian Anderson has prejudiced me and especially my
9 honour, accusing me namely to have breached my duties as
10 a policeman. I reserve the right to instigate a legal
11 action against Brian Anderson for these lies concerning
12 me personally, because he quoted my name.
13 "Also, I officially ask your court, at the end of
14 the debate, to examine the accusations that I was
15 the subject of and make a statement about it and to say
16 that this individual Brian Anderson lied as far as I am
17 concerned, so that it will not be possible that he does
18 it again concerning anybody else in the future and it
19 will not be possible for him to really prejudice
20 anybody's honour by saying shameless criminal lies
21 according to which I would have concealed a testimony
22 concerning the death of the Princess of Wales and
23 Mr Henri Paul and Mr Dodi Al Fayed.
24 "I thank you too for having listened to me and to
25 take into consideration my official request."

5
1 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Gigou, we are very grateful to
2 you for the assistance that you have agreed to give and
3 are giving to these inquests.
4 A. Thank you.
5 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: You have made your position about
6 Mr Anderson's evidence very clear.
7 At the conclusion of the case, the jury will have to
8 consider all the evidence and form their own conclusions
9 of it. I am sure you will understand that it would be
10 inappropriate for me to make comments during the course
11 of the hearing about any of the evidence, whether from
12 Mr Anderson or otherwise. Thank you very much and we
13 will now continue with your evidence.
14 Questions from MR HOUGH
15 MR HOUGH: Mr Gigou, we have already heard from you on
16 4th February and I think you have already made an oath
17 and you are still bound by that oath.
18 May I ask for your patience for a moment while
19 I just discuss some documentary matters for the jury?
20 There should be available for the jury a few additional
21 documents today. The first is a one page reference
22 sheet which I think is being handed out.
23 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: What is that called?
24 MR HOUGH: It is called "Paparazzi Summary Table" and this
25 gives the name, vehicle and agency of each paparazzo,

6
1 the position of the paparazzo as seen on CCTV at the
2 time that the Mercedes departs the rear of the Ritz,
3 the position and time that the paparazzi is last seen on
4 CCTV and the place or occasion when the paparazzo was
5 arrested, if at all.
6 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: This will in due course go into
7 the jury bundle?
8 MR HOUGH: It will, but it may be best for each member of
9 the jury to have it in front of them while
10 the statements are being read, because it is quite easy
11 to confuse these people.
12 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I think Mr Foley puts all
13 exhibits into the bundle in due course.
14 MR HOUGH: The second document which has already been added
15 to the jury bundle, the jury may remember having
16 received an album of CCTV stills taken outside the Ritz
17 which went under tab 6. We have replaced that with
18 a version that now has D number references and
19 the reason for that is that the D number references are
20 quoted in the French statements that we will be reading.
21 So now the jury have a way of referring to those.
22 The third document that will be provided is
23 a reference sheet giving D numbers for the photographs
24 in our paparazzi photograph album. Again, that is so
25 that cross-referencing can take place when D numbers are

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1 quoted.
2 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Yes.
3 MR HOUGH: And then, fourthly, the jury will be provided
4 with a timeline for CCTV images of the paparazzi which
5 Mr Carpenter has prepared which he will be formally
6 proving tomorrow but which my learned friends have
7 kindly agreed can go into to the jury today.
8 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: These in due course will go into
9 the jury bundle?
10 MR HOUGH: The timeline might properly go behind tab 3,
11 where the jury already have quite a lot of timelines.
12 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: But that can be dealt with in due
13 course?
14 MR HOUGH: Yes.
15 Thank you for your patience, Mr Gigou. We are just
16 dealing with some documentary matters here.
17 Now, Mr Gigou, we have already heard that in 1997,
18 you were a police lieutenant involved in
19 the investigation?
20 A. Yes. Absolutely.
21 Q. And I think you interviewed a number of the paparazzi
22 who were suspected of certain offences.
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Now, those paparazzi have refused to give evidence to
25 these inquests and we are required to call, under

8
1 English law, an appropriate person formally to prove
2 their statements and we are very grateful to you for
3 performing that role in respect of some of the paparazzi
4 whom you interviewed.
5 You should have available in front of you two
6 volumes of statements made by paparazzi.
7 A. Yes, I do have them.
8 Q. And we have English versions of those here in England
9 that the lawyers have and you should also have a spiral
10 bound volume of photographs taken by the paparazzi. We
11 will refer to that when necessary.
12 Now, the procedure will be that I will ask you first
13 some general questions about your investigation, then
14 I will read, in English, the statements of the first
15 paparazzo to be proved, who is called Serge Benhamou and
16 I will indicate what statements they are so that you can
17 follow in French, while the jury sees the text come on
18 screen in English as I speak it.
19 Then I shall ask, having done that, a few questions
20 about that particular paparazzo. And then other lawyers
21 may ask you a few further questions about your
22 investigation and about that paparazzo. Then we will
23 repeat the process for the next paparazzo. Thank you.
24 Now dealing with your investigation first, I think
25 seven of the paparazzi were arrested in the Alma

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1 Underpass at around 20 to 1 on the Sunday morning?
2 A. Yes, that is right.
3 Q. And for the benefit of the jury, their names are:
4 Mr Rat, Mr Darmon, Mr Arnal, Mr Martinez, Mr Langevin,
5 Mr Arsov and Mr Veres.
6 A. That is right.
7 Q. And they appeared in a line-up photograph of seven
8 people which we have seen a few times. Then I think
9 five people were questioned later in the week, and they
10 are, again for the benefit of the jury, Mr Benhamou,
11 Mr Odekerken, Mr Chassery, Mr Hounsfield, and Mr Suu.
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And they appeared, I think, in a second line-up
14 photograph of five people, which we have seen a few
15 times?
16 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Right-hand column on the summary
17 table, "Tunnel/Batch 2".
18 MR HOUGH: Now, I think an investigation was ultimately
19 mounted against all of those except Mr Hounsfield and
20 Mr Suu.
21 A. Yes, I do not remember what the different people were
22 blamed for exactly, any more, but to know that, you just
23 have to look at the minutes and to the explanations
24 given in the rogatory commission.
25 Q. According to that commission rogatoire,

10
1 the investigation concerned two potential offences: one
2 of failing to render assistance and one of involuntary
3 manslaughter.
4 A. That is right.
5 Q. So, is this right, your questions in your investigations
6 focused on the effect of the driving of the paparazzi
7 and whether they sought to help the injured?
8 A. Exactly.
9 Q. Now, there was some other paparazzi who were never
10 arrested but were questioned.
11 They included Mr Guizard, Mr Cardinale, Mr Dieppois
12 and Mr Tomic?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Now, is this right, for each of the paparazzi I have
15 named, we have for the most part several statements;
16 more than one?
17 A. Yes, it is possible.
18 Q. And is this right, in most cases, the judicial police
19 took at least one substantial statement and
20 the magistrates took at least one substantial statement.
21 A. That is logical, according to French procedure.
22 Q. Thank you. We just need to explain that procedure to
23 those here. Now, I think this is right, in the course
24 of your questioning, you used information which you had
25 obtained from telephone networks about when particular

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1 mobile telephone calls were made.
2 A. Yes, exactly. Yes.
3 Q. And I think you also used photographs which you had
4 confiscated from the paparazzi to question both
5 the paparazzi who had taken the photographs and other
6 paparazzi.
7 A. It was a way to determine who exactly was there at what
8 time and especially after a few seconds or minutes after
9 the crash had happened.
10 Q. We understand that.
11 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Hough, it is probably my fault
12 but I am in a little bit of confusion about the fifth
13 column, the final column on the paparazzi summary table,
14 the column headed "Arrest".
15 We have the initial seven from the tunnel and then
16 I think you referred to the next batch.
17 MR HOUGH: Yes.
18 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: But you referred to Tomic I think
19 as one of those who was not in fact arrested, but he
20 appears in batch 2.
21 MR HOUGH: I think that is an error, I think one should just
22 cross out "batch 2" from next to Tomic.
23 I actually think Mr Tomic does appear in
24 the photograph of five, so it may have been my mistake
25 when asking the question, rather than when putting

12
1 together the table.
2 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: We have six in batch 2. Suu is
3 there as well?
4 MR HOUGH: Hounsfield is not in.
5 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: So Hounsfield is the mistake.
6 MR HOUGH: Sorry.
7 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I just wanted to clear that up.
8 MR HOUGH: It is absolutely right, it is my mistake.
9 Mr Gigou, one other thing, you used in your
10 questioning some still photographs of CCTV images taken
11 by the cameras at the Ritz?
12 A. Yes, I did.
13 Q. But I do not think that the French police, for some of
14 their investigations at least, had performed the full
15 analysis of all the Ritz CCTV images which has been
16 performed by now.
17 A. Well, I did not know precisely personally what was going
18 on with the CCTV footage. I was just using the stills
19 that were provided to me for my questioning.
20 Q. Now, another process I have to ask you about which is
21 peculiar to French law is a confrontation, which
22 occurred in this case in June of 1998?
23 A. Which confrontation are you talking about? It concerned
24 which people?
25 Q. I think in this case there was a confrontation between

13
1 quite a number of the paparazzi and various witnesses.
2 A. I do not recall it. Did I take part in this?
3 Q. I do not think you did. It is at tab 11I of what
4 probably should be your second file.
5 A. What do you want me to say about it?
6 Q. All I want to do is to check that I have right the
7 general procedure of such a confrontation.
8 A. All right.
9 Q. Now I think what happens, or certainly what happened on
10 this occasion, is that various suspects attended before
11 the magistrate with the assistance of their lawyers.
12 A. Yes, it is quite normal, it is French procedure.
13 Q. And also I think the parties civiles, who in this case
14 were the Paul family, Mr Al Fayed and the family of the
15 Princess, were also entitled to be there.
16 A. Yes, it is also quite normal.
17 Q. And what happened for each of the suspects was that
18 their previous accounts were summarised and then they
19 were asked questions by some of the witnesses.
20 A. Yes, it is up to the investigating magistrate to manage
21 the confrontation, but that is the way it normally
22 happens. That is, each of the parties reiterates their
23 statements and then the other witnesses or the other
24 parties again respond.
25 Q. And we will be hearing in due course the sections of

14
1 the confrontation which relate to each paparazzo. And
2 I think at the end of the confrontation, the document
3 recording it is signed by each of the witnesses.
4 A. Yes, each of them signing for themselves only. That is,
5 each party signs the minutes for what concerns him or
6 her and there may be statements by other witnesses, for
7 example with which that person can be in agreement,
8 but -- and they would still sign the minutes but it does
9 not mean that the person in question would agree finally
10 with the other witnesses' statements, the person would
11 just sign for him or herself only.
12 Q. That is very helpful.
13 Just finally dealing with the outcome your
14 investigation, I think the case against the paparazzi
15 was dismissed by Juge Stephan in September of 1999.
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. And were you aware that that was because the judge was
18 satisfied himself that the driving of the paparazzi did
19 not cause the collision to occur?
20 A. Yes, there was not only that, there was also the matter
21 to know whether they had assisted or not the injured
22 people. So even though the driving of the paparazzi had
23 not contributed or had not caused the crash to happen,
24 it was to be established also whether they had helped
25 the injured people.

15
1 Q. Were you also aware that in his notice of dismissal that
2 the judge commented that it was difficult or impossible
3 to elicit a coherent version from all the different
4 statements that the police and magistrates had received?
5 A. Concerning the non-assistance to people in danger or?
6 Q. Concerning the events leading up to the collision.
7 A. I did not know exactly what were the reasons of the
8 judge, but anyway, his conclusion was matching our
9 investigation.
10 Q. Is it fair that in your experience of questioning quite
11 a number of witnesses, there were inconsistencies
12 between the accounts which you and the magistrates had
13 to then try to resolve?
14 A. Well, I do not remember any particular inconsistencies
15 with how to look at the statements, but what is for sure
16 is that we could establish the way from a timing point
17 of view that the day happened from the time
18 the Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed arrived in Paris
19 until the time of the crash.
20 Q. Thank you. Now, we are going to begin with the first
21 paparazzo, Mr Benhamou and the first statement I shall
22 read is at tab 3A.
23 If you read this to yourself in French while I read
24 it out loud in English?
25 Members of the jury, this is a statement dated

16
1 4th September 1997 at 12 o'clock. It is in the form of
2 a report by this witness, Lieutenant Gigou and it
3 records the evidence of Serge Benhamou.
4 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Hough, I think it would be
5 helpful to make it clear to the jury that a lot of work
6 has been put in by counsel right across the board,
7 including the interested persons, to try to narrow down
8 the amount of material that is being read to the jury
9 because quite often, witnesses have been questioned
10 about the same thing on more than one occasion and what
11 we are trying to do is to get it in as short a form as
12 is practical, with giving a true picture.
13 MR HOUGH: Yes, I was going to say at the end of the day,
14 that the culling of material has only been possible
15 thanks to a lot of cooperation, particularly from
16 the team for the Ritz who are taking the burden of this
17 on that side of the court and also the Metropolitan
18 Police team.
19 MR CROXFORD: I am grateful for that. We are conscious that
20 there is a good deal of duplication, but it has just
21 been unavoidable to get a coherent account. Mr Hough and
22 I have talked about it, and we have done our best.
23 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: You have done your best.
24 Statement of MR SERGE BENHAMOU (read)
25 MR HOUGH: This first statement relating to 30th August 1997

17
1 as follows:
2 "From a professional angle, in respect of what
3 happened, I can tell you that my day started at 1600 or
4 1700 hours which is when I went to the Ritz Hotel.
5 I went to the Ritz on the basis of professional
6 instinct. I knew that Princess Diana was going out with
7 Al Fayed and I had said to myself that she might be
8 there. I should add that the couple had been in Italy,
9 on a cruise I think, as the hotel belongs to
10 the Al Fayeds, I thought she might go there.
11 "I went there on my scooter, registration 884 LGD
12 75, it is a Honda 80CC the model is called 'Lead'
13 I believe, it is green. I was wearing a black helmet
14 without a visor. I was also wearing grey trousers, a
15 black t-shirt and the jacket I am wearing today, which
16 is a combat jacket as we photographers call it. It is
17 beige in colour. I was also wearing the prescription
18 glasses that I am currently wearing which have black
19 frames.
20 "I was on my own. My photographic equipment
21 consisted of a Canon EOS1 camera with a 28/105 lens, and
22 a small Canon flash with a Quantum battery that was
23 I was wearing around my neck.
24 "In reply to your question, I had not told anybody
25 that I was going to the Ritz.

18
1 "Once at the Ritz, I saw a lot of photographers.
2 I asked around as to what was going on but nobody would
3 answer. I nevertheless decided to remain there.
4 "Later, some other photographers told me that Diana
5 had landed at Le Bourget and that some photos had been
6 taken. When I heard this, I phoned Laslo Veres to join
7 me as Diana was supposed to be there or on her way.
8 I called him on his mobile or at his home, I cannot
9 remember, from my mobile. He was just back from holiday
10 but agreed to come straightaway, even though he had
11 barely had time to catch his breath. It was Diana,
12 after all.
13 "Veres arrived at 1730 or 1800 hours, he was on his
14 own and was riding his black Hexagon scooter.
15 "We both waited, we were among a 20 or so strong
16 crowd made up of photographers and onlookers alike.
17 I remembered that Romuald Rat was already there and
18 Francis Petit was there too. He had covered their
19 arrival at Le Bourget with another individual who I did
20 not know. Petit did not stay there for the evening. He
21 was replaced later on by Martinez.
22 "At one stage, the couple left the hotel in order to
23 go to the Rue Arsene, which is near
24 the Place de l'Etoile. I think they left via the rear.
25 I even seem to recall that at one point the chauffeurs

19
1 went round the building without the VIPs in order to get
2 us to move.
3 "I should point out that the driver of the Mercedes
4 was the usual driver who I knew by sight. However, he
5 was not driving the black Range Rover in which he
6 usually drives Dodi. On the day, he was driving
7 the couple in a Mercedes and the Range Rover followed.
8 "We all followed them to the Rue Arsene. There were
9 lots of us, many motorcycles and cars followed.
10 "When I saw that the celebrities were taking
11 the Champs-Elysees I thought they might be going to
12 a villa in the Bois de Boulogne which had been mentioned
13 in the papers. However, the procession stopped before
14 that in the street near l'Etoile. The chauffeur drove
15 gently and everything went smoothly.
16 "In reply to your question, Rat was on a motorcycle
17 being driven by a stand-in rider.
18 "When we got to the apartment near the hotel, I saw
19 Martinez arrived and say to Petit and his colleague that
20 they could go, as he was covering it for the agency.
21 That could not have gone down well with them as they had
22 covered the arrival. They then left.
23 "Martinez then stayed there with Serge Arnal who was
24 driving him in a dark grey 206-like car, possibly
25 a Peugeot. Anyway, it's small and dark.

20
1 "We remained outside the apartment until late.
2 "In reply to your question, I was unable to take any
3 photos when the couple went into the apartment as
4 a bodyguard stood in front of me.
5 "When the couple reemerged, I must have taken some
6 pictures but I do not know what they were like. I would
7 point out that I have had my photos developed since but
8 have not even wanted to look at them. I particularly
9 did not want to see the one taken later.
10 "There were ten or so of us photographers and a few
11 passers-by. I remember seeing Rat, Martinez, Arnal and
12 Nicco, who is called Nicholas Ersov, I think, and who
13 unusually was in a car, despite his being a motorcyclist
14 plus David Ker, who has a light grey 4x4, and possibly
15 Pierre Suu. It is possible that some were only at the
16 Ritz and not at the hotel. It is difficult to recall."
17 There is a translator's note:
18 "Meaning unclear, suggest the writer means
19 the apartment rather than the hotel."
20 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: While we have a pause, members of
21 the jury, it is a matter entirely for you, but in your
22 bundle at section 7, there is a series of pictures of
23 the various paparazzi and it may be that you would find
24 it useful just to cast an eye at the paparazzo that is
25 being read at the time so that you can get a picture in

21
1 your mind's eye as to who it is. Benhamou, you will
2 find at divider 7, page 4.
3 MR HOUGH: Mr Benhamou goes on:
4 "We followed as far as the Ritz, which is where
5 the couple went. The driver was again driving normally.
6 "I was able to get some good photos as the couple
7 came out separately, her first. It must have been 2130
8 or 2145 hours, quite late in any event and I wondered if
9 the couple had eaten or not. Martinez, Arnal, Veres and
10 Rat were there. As for the others, I cannot really
11 remember. Langevin also turned up and then an English
12 journalist who speaks French and who told me he works
13 for an English newspaper. I did not know him.
14 "At this stage, there quite a crowd, tens of people.
15 With all the onlookers you could not tell
16 the photographers from the bystanders.
17 "In reply to your question, I did not phone any
18 fellow photographers. I had Veres with me, that was
19 enough.
20 "I do remember, however, that in the afternoon, did
21 I possibly call Michel Dufour who is a freelance
22 photographer like Veres and myself, and he shares an
23 office with us ... he could not stay, he had a dinner
24 engagement that evening. He was riding his red
25 motorbike. I am positive, however, that he only came to

22
1 the Ritz in the afternoon.
2 "We were waiting behind a sort of line made by the
3 cars, without preferential treatment over
4 the bystanders.
5 "I remember going round the back to see if anything
6 was happening there, and then returned to the front.
7 Then Veres told me to return to the rear as he thought
8 that the couple were going to leave from there.
9 "I went there. Alain Guizard, the editor at Angeli,
10 was already there at the back. He was not
11 a photographer but he was there to give the starting
12 signal. That is what he must have done when they left
13 as I was then caught up by a number of my colleagues and
14 I said to myself that he must have given the signal
15 straightaway. He was in his tatty light coloured 205.
16 "As I made my way to the rear, I was being followed
17 by Langevin who had a dark coloured Golf with a 94
18 departmental registration.
19 "There may have been others, but I do not remember.
20 Certainly the three of us were there, Guizard being
21 the first and he had not moved from the rear, as it was
22 him who gave the starting signal.
23 "We did not wait long at the rear.
24 "I saw a man I know as the security guy from
25 the Ritz Hotel coming out via the back exit. I had seen

23
1 him in front of the hotel. He was having a laugh,
2 thumbing his nose at us slightly. And at the rear he
3 was still smiling, he seemed cheerful. He saw us and
4 laughed. I could not understand why.
5 "I would add that that man had never behaved like
6 that before. Usually he ignored us, he thought of
7 autograph hunters and photographers as two of a kind.
8 "I thought he was not his usual self and even said
9 to some people, it must have been at around 2230 hours
10 on 30th August 1997, that he must have been drinking,
11 the condition he was in. All his reactions led me to
12 believe that he had been drinking.
13 "I said as much to some people, so that must have
14 been repeated to you.
15 "Reply to question: I do not remember who I said it
16 to, I said it to people around me. And I do not think
17 I was the only one to notice this as people who cover
18 showbiz often come to the Ritz.
19 "To continue, a Mercedes arrived at the rear. From
20 that moment, everything happened quickly. The couple
21 got in quickly but separately and the car sped off.
22 "I had been caught on the hop. By the time I had
23 put my helmet on and set off on my scooter, I only
24 managed to catch up with the car in the Rue de Rivoli
25 before Concorde. There were also some other people

24
1 following, I was not able to call anyone, as I was on my
2 scooter.
3 "I do not know if the Mercedes jumped any lights on
4 the Rue de Rivoli, but I am sure it went across a red
5 light at the Place de la Concorde.
6 "In fact, when he reached the lights where you cross
7 the Rue Royale in front of the Hotel Crillon, the
8 chauffeur slowed down and stopped to let the cars that
9 had a green light go, and then he jumped the lights. He
10 impeded the progress of vehicles that had a green light
11 and they hooted at him.
12 "I was very close to the Mercedes at that stage.
13 Like everyone that was following. I jumped the light,
14 like everyone else by the way in order to follow him as
15 he set off again quickly from the light he had just
16 jumped.
17 "In front of the Crillon, the Mercedes turned left
18 very quickly and I could no longer see it. From seeing
19 the rear lights of the vehicles following the Mercedes,
20 I was able to follow the convoy from a distance. As
21 they were starting to drive quickly, I could not keep up
22 with them on my scooter.
23 "Reply to question: I am quite positive, right from
24 the departure from the hotel the driver drove very
25 quickly, he wanted to shake us off straightaway. He

25
1 knew that there were some people at the rear as he had
2 seen us there previously when he came out. However,
3 I have heard it said in the press that he apparently
4 said to some journalists that he was going to lose us.
5 I did not witness any of that and I do not know if
6 it was true.
7 "Reply to question: I am positive that the man
8 I have described as being from the security department
9 of the Ritz and who appeared to have been drinking is
10 indeed the same one who took the wheel of the Mercedes
11 at the rear [of the hotel]. I did not see him take
12 the wheel but I saw him at the wheel at Concorde when
13 I drew close up.
14 "Reply to question: in reply to your question, I was
15 level with the vehicle's rear left-hand wing, 2 or
16 3 metres away from it. It shielded me from the cars
17 arriving from the right at the green light, which meant
18 that I did not have to worry about them.
19 "Reply to question: at no stage did I manage to
20 overtake the Mercedes. I was unable to get any further
21 past the Mercedes at any time than when I was level with
22 the rear left-hand wing at the lights that he jumped at
23 a low speed because lots of cars were going through on
24 the green. That, incidentally, was the only time that
25 he did not drive quickly.

26
1 "Question: if we follow your version of events, you
2 were on a scooter at night alongside the rear left-hand
3 wing of a vehicle whose driver was trying to go through
4 a set of lights at an intersection with lots of vehicles
5 arriving to his right; one would therefore suppose that
6 his full attention would be on the danger from his right
7 and that he would be looking in that direction; how
8 could you have recognised that driver from your
9 position, knowing that he was then to pull away so
10 quickly that you were unable to follow.
11 "Reply: I saw his face, of that I am sure. I do not
12 remember where. Perhaps it is it was before in
13 the Rue de Rivoli. I am sure it was the security man
14 that I saw out at the front and at the rear, who is not
15 the usual driver. But what is the significance of
16 whether I saw his face or not and when?"
17 Mr Benhamou goes on:
18 "The driver set off very quickly, as soon as he
19 could get across the lights, as I have said. I was
20 concerned about myself, about getting across the lights
21 without getting run over. I do not know whether
22 the others managed to follow closely or not.
23 "I saw the pack turn left in front of the Crillon
24 and cross the avenue that leads to the Champs-Elysees."
25 Pausing there, it may be helpful to have the map at

27
1 page 9 up on the screen so that when the route is
2 described, it can be followed:
3 "I saw the pack turn left in front of the Crillon
4 and cross the avenue that leads to the Champs-Elysees.
5 I notice they did not turn right towards the Champs.
6 I therefore took the underpass on the right without
7 seeing anybody apart from some lights in the distance
8 but not knowing if it was the pursuing photographers as
9 they also set off very quickly.
10 "I went into the first underpass ..."
11 I think it is agreed that is the Alexander tunnel:
12 " ... and came out the other side. I thought I had
13 been left behind, so I drove along at about
14 60 kilometres per hour. I wondered where they could be
15 going. Curiously, there was no traffic. I emerged near
16 the point where the FR3 building is in front of you. I
17 arrived at the Place de l'Alma and there were no cars at
18 all. I went towards the Avenue George V, but I had lost
19 the convoy. I thought they had carried on along the
20 embankment opposite. I went there, close to a Chinese
21 restaurant.
22 "Then I noticed that there were lots of stationary
23 cars in the Alma Tunnel in the direction of Trocadero
24 towards Concorde. [So that is west towards east] and
25 that people had got out of their cars. I did a U-turn

28
1 and stopped at the entrance to the underpass. I then
2 went along on foot and saw the crashed car.
3 "There were lots of people, some photographers were
4 there taking photos. Members of the public were busying
5 themselves around the car. They were looking on and
6 some even had small cameras and were taking pictures.
7 Some people told me that the emergency services had
8 already been informed. A marked police car was very
9 quickly on the scene.
10 "I myself did not think, I took some photos as soon
11 as I arrived, without thinking. I did not take a lot of
12 photos. I said to one of the police officers that
13 it was a very serious accident and that Princess Diana
14 was in the car.
15 "I called Veres to ask him to come as I could not
16 stand it any more. I felt unwell and wanted to leave.
17 When I saw him coming from a distance I left, without
18 even talk to go him.
19 "I got back on my scooter which was parked outside
20 and once I was some distance away, I stopped in Paris,
21 it was 1 o'clock in the morning. The battery in my
22 mobile was flat. I dialled Dufour's number from a
23 kiosk, the one in the Avenue Rapp in the 7th
24 arrondissement at the junction with the quays on
25 the left bank. I called him twice as he could not

29
1 understand or believe what I was saying and did not
2 come.
3 "I asked him to come to the kiosk that I was at, not
4 to the tunnel, as I did not want to go back there,
5 it was horrible. I had never seen an accident in my
6 life. I had seen a smashed up car and I did not want to
7 return there.
8 "As he did not arrive, I went to the office and
9 waited for two hours. He arrived at about 0200 or
10 0300 hours. I was prostrate on a chair.
11 "When he arrived, he told me he had been to
12 the scene but did not tell me anything further and I was
13 not listening to him anyway.
14 "I told him that I had taken some photos and that I
15 wanted to throw them away. He said no and that he would
16 take care of them, so I left them in the office. As far
17 as I am aware, Michel was not able to take any pictures
18 because when he arrived, the scene had already been
19 sealed off by the police.
20 "He left. At around 0400 or 0500 hours I left
21 the office to go home. I could not sleep. I stayed on
22 the settee. I disconnected my phone because obviously
23 I did not want to talk to anybody. My parents, who were
24 worried, came round. My mother was crying. She thought
25 I had been injured in the accident. My father, who is a

30
1 doctor, have me some sedatives as I was in shock. He
2 asked me to come to their place, which I did.
3 I remained there until today.
4 "I had taken my mobile to their place but I had not
5 switched it back on.
6 "I did not follow the news for two or three days,
7 I did not want to hear anything or see any pictures.
8 I only start listening a bit on Tuesday, but I have not
9 watched television at all.
10 "To respond: I have had some contacts with
11 colleagues, to tell them I did not want to hear about my
12 experience.
13 "On Monday evening, Michel Dufour came to see me at
14 my parents', he had two developed films. I did not look
15 at the negatives. I did not in any event have any
16 prints. I, only have the negatives. I do not want to
17 see them. I hope I will not have to view my photos as
18 part of my investigation, I do not want to because
19 I took so many photos and now I know the people are
20 dead. It is an awful memory. I do not know if you can
21 see any of the injured in my photos.
22 "In reply to your question: Michel Dufour telephoned
23 me several times at my parents. He already had their
24 number, which is ex-directory. Veres also has it but
25 there are really only very few people who have my

31
1 parents' number. Other people cannot get it as they are
2 ex-directory.
3 "Reply to question: the only photographers I saw in
4 the underpass were Rat, Arnal, Martinez, Langevin and
5 possibly Nicco, but I am not sure about this. They took
6 some photos, but I possibly did not see who was there.
7 I do not remember seeing Langevin and Nicco taking
8 photos, but they stayed after I left.
9 "Rat was panic-stricken. He realised that it was
10 serious. I think he actually spoke to the police about
11 it.
12 "Langevin did not understand anything, he seemed
13 very shocked. He appeared not to understand that it was
14 Diana's car. I only saw him as I was leaving. I think
15 that Ker was also in the tunnel.
16 "Reply to question: I am quite sure that there was
17 no other vehicle (car or motorbike) than the Mercedes on
18 the road in the tunnel where it crashed.
19 "Reply to question: I arrived a few minutes after
20 the accident, as I did not even hear the sound of the
21 crash.
22 "Reply to question: as far as Pierre Suu is
23 concerned, I do not recall seeing him in the tunnel.
24 "You point out that Pierre Suu was seen in
25 the evening at the Ritz next to me, whereas I had said

32
1 to you I had only seen him in the afternoon. I had not
2 remembered this. I can tell you that he was on
3 a motorbike behind a rider who I do not know. However,
4 I do not remember seeing him in the tunnel or even at
5 Concorde.
6 "Reply to question: the vehicles that were behind
7 the Mercedes between Concorde and the underpass were:
8 Rat and Darmon's motorbike, Martinez and Arnal's car,
9 Langevin certainly, and Suu I do not remember, Guizard
10 who must have been following and Ker in his 4x4.
11 "However, during the daytime, Chassery was there in
12 his black 205. He is always with Ker, as they work
13 together. I do not remember seeing him tailing between
14 the Ritz and the underpass.
15 "I would like to mention an important point: all
16 those who were there in the afternoon, with
17 the exception of Petit and his colleague, who were told
18 to leave by Martinez remained until the end. You do not
19 leave when Diana is there! I mean by this that everyone
20 who was there in the evening and who knew that it had
21 just begun, at one stage or another went to
22 the underpass.
23 "Obviously I could not have seen everyone that was
24 there, since I left.
25 "However, the English photographer that I mentioned

33
1 did not follow. He is salaried and therefore does not
2 care about missing an outing and no one would have told
3 him anyway.
4 "There was another photographer who was with Sygma
5 and who was working with Langevin. He is called
6 Stefan Cardinale and Langevin cannot have warned him
7 that they were leaving from the rear as I did not see
8 him again. I should add that Sygma only do meetings and
9 hang around for a photo opportunity when they really
10 have nothing else to do.
11 "I have given you the name of all the photographers
12 that I know who were there on 30th August 1997.
13 "Question: which of the photographers present might
14 have gone to Laurent Sola Diffusion?
15 "Answer, it could only be freelancers that would do
16 that, the others would be sacked from their agencies.
17 "Question: who are these freelancers?
18 "Answer: there were only two of them, Ker and
19 Chassery. I remember Ker being present in
20 the underpass, although not Chassery although he must
21 have been there.
22 "I do not know if any photographers other than those
23 I have mentioned left before the police arrived. Nobody
24 has spoken about this to me. I heard that two
25 photographers did leave like that, and that Laurent Sola

34
1 circulated pictures from two photographers. I thought,
2 and the rumour was, that it was Ker and Chassery.
3 "Question: having heard in the press that three
4 people had died and that seven of your colleagues were
5 in custody, why did you not come and give your account
6 of events of your own accord?
7 "Answer: because I was very unwell at first.
8 I usually only do parties and fashion. Then, on Tuesday
9 I heard they had been released. Yesterday morning I met
10 Veres, who told me everything was fine that he had not
11 been hit and he had given my name. So I concluded that
12 the evidence of the photographers who had taken pictures
13 was sufficient and I also wondered why the police had
14 not contacted me at my parents. In the end, I spoke to
15 my lawyer who told me to get in touch with you.
16 "You point out that my parents' telephone is
17 ex-directory and that I had disconnected my mobile and
18 that I was no longer living at my home address.
19 I thought to myself that you would realise straightaway
20 that I was at my parents'.
21 "Reply to question: on 30th August 1997,
22 the photographers were more persistent and more
23 aggressive than usual. The fact that it was Diana made
24 people more tense than usual.
25 "Reply to question: I remember there being

35
1 altercations between the photographers and the security
2 people. Rat had a run-in with a French security man at
3 the apartment. By contrast, the English bodyguards were
4 very correct. I remember at the apartment a bodyguard
5 stopped me from taking pictures. I told the English
6 bodyguard that if that was how it was going to be,
7 I would call up some other photographers that there
8 would be even more of us. But there was no altercation
9 with him. Rat, on the other hand, had some words with
10 the French guard who had not been very pleasant to him
11 but after talking, things quickly calmed down. I do not
12 recall any other incidents.
13 "I do, in fact, recall having spoken about
14 the Al Fayed family at that stage and saying to
15 the bodyguards that if they misbehaved, it would have
16 repercussions for the family and that there would be
17 adverse publicity. That is all I said when I came to
18 Rat's defence.
19 "Reply to question: I do not remember there being
20 any dangerous driving during the tailing between the
21 Ritz and the apartment, the apartment and the Ritz and
22 then the Ritz and la Concorde. That was the only
23 tailing in which I took part.
24 "Reply to question: the only raised voices that
25 I heard in the underpass were those of members of the

36
1 public criticising us for taking photos. But some of
2 them were also taking photos.
3 "Reply to question: I was not present during
4 the altercation between Rat and Martinez.
5 "Reply to question: I did in fact see Rat in
6 a clinch with a uniformed police officer. I do not know
7 why, nor what was said. Rat was holding the police
8 officer's arm but this was possibly to explain something
9 to him.
10 "Reply to question: I did not see any photographer
11 giving assistance of any kind to people in the crashed
12 Mercedes. Anyway, my father who is a doctor has always
13 told me you should not touch a casualty. You should
14 call the emergency services but nor touch them. You can
15 kill an injured person by moving them.
16 "Reply to question: I did not see any photographer
17 calling the emergency services in the tunnel. But
18 people were saying that it had already been done and
19 the police arrived straightaway. That is why I did not
20 call the emergency services.
21 "You tell me that Veres has said to you that I came
22 to see him in the underpass later. Yes, that is true,
23 but that was before I left the tunnel for good and
24 I spoke with him then.
25 "You inform me that he has said to you that

37
1 the Mercedes only started travelling quickly from
2 the Place de la Concorde onwards. I said that it set
3 off quickly from the back of the Ritz but I was
4 comparing it to myself on my scooter. It is true that
5 I was able to follow it and catch it up as far as
6 Concorde. To reply to your question: I did not drive
7 very quickly in the Rue Cambon and I slowed down at
8 the bends. And in any event, I was not going flat out.
9 Therefore I must be mistaken in saying that it set off
10 quickly from the Ritz and it is true that it was from
11 Concorde that it really accelerated.
12 "Reply to question: I did not have time to take
13 a photo at the red light at Concorde. I do not remember
14 if the flash went off. I was not paying attention to
15 the others. I do not know if there were any flashes.
16 "Question: from what you saw during the course of
17 the day, could the attitude of the photographers have
18 upset the two VIPs?
19 "Answer: yes, indeed, the couple did not want any
20 photos. At no stage did they say as much to us, but
21 they never wanted to pose. I thought that at some stage
22 they would perhaps give us a photo opportunity, but they
23 never did. They certainly wanted to be left in peace at
24 the Ritz, but there were loads of photographers who they
25 could not avoid. There were also bystanders with small

38
1 cameras and they also want to sell their pictures of
2 the stars. But there were no autograph hunters that
3 day, they tend to prefer film stars.
4 "I think our mere presence annoyed them, but no more
5 than usual, given that we were dealing with a major
6 public figure.
7 "I cannot think of anything further to add, other
8 than it is often the case that stars do not want to be
9 photographed at first, but then things sort themselves
10 out."
11 That is the first statement, the main one.
12 The second statement is at tab 3C, for Mr Gigou.
13 While I am reading this statement, the jury may wish
14 to look at the photographs taken by Mr Benhamou,
15 starting at page 18 of the small bundle.
16 Second statement of MR SERGE BENHAMOU (read)
17 3C, this is a statement in the form of a report by
18 Mr Gigou dated 5th September 1997 at 12.55.
19 Mr Benhamou confirms his previous statements and he
20 notes that he is being shown the photograph of seven men
21 carrying cards, the first of the line-up photos. I do
22 not think it is necessary to look at it:
23 "Following a detailed examination, I can state that
24 I definitely recognise from left to right: Romuald Rat
25 (number 2); Serge Arnal (number 5); I think I recognise

39
1 Jacques Langevin (number 6) but he is not wearing his
2 glasses and seems very upset; Nicco (number 4), Laslo
3 Veres (number 3); Christian Martinez (number 7) and
4 Stephane Darmon (number 1).
5 "To reply to your question: Nicco is definitely
6 the man carrying the number 4. I do not know his
7 surname as he only joined the profession a few months
8 ago. And everyone calls him 'Nicco'. This must be it.
9 For my part, I thought he was called 'Ersof' or a same
10 something like that as I told you yesterday.
11 "To reply to your question, I can tell you that when
12 I was in the tunnel, with the exception of
13 Stephane Darmon, Rat's motorcyclist, I saw all of these
14 individuals in the tunnel at one time or another.
15 "I also saw David Ker, the driver of the four-wheel
16 drive. I do not remember having seen Pierre Suu or
17 Fabrice Chassery there.
18 "However, during the shadowing of the Mercedes
19 between the Ritz and the tunnel, there were two
20 motorcycles. Now, on that particular day there were
21 only two motorcycles among the assembled photographers.
22 "This means that one of the two motorcycles
23 following between the Ritz and the tunnel is that of Rat
24 and Darmon which is borne out by the fact that they were
25 arrested.

40
1 "As for the second one, this can only be that of Suu
2 and his driver whose name I do not know as I do not know
3 him. He works for Sipa but I had never seen him.
4 "His motorcycle is a large red one, almost certainly
5 a BMW, not an off-road model.
6 "In this same pursuit, I also remember the car of
7 Martinez and Arnal and the four-wheel drive of Ker.
8 I do not remember the black 205 of Chassery. Perhaps
9 I just did not see it.
10 "Those who I saw with my own eyes taking photographs
11 were Rat, Arnal, Martinez, Ker and perhaps Veres.
12 However, I did not see with my own eyes whether Langevin
13 and Nicco were taking shots.
14 "Conversely, Darmon was not in the tunnel and he did
15 not even have a camera.
16 "To reply to your question, I did not at any time
17 hear Martinez having words with anybody whatsoever,
18 either an individual or a police officer. I should also
19 like to add that I did not hear him talking about Bosnia
20 as was claimed in the press.
21 "The only person I saw holding the arm of a police
22 officer was Rat as I explained to you in my previous
23 statement.
24 "I confirmed that I did not see or hear
25 photographers arguing amongst themselves whilst I was in

41
1 the tunnel.
2 "To reply to your question, of the seven individuals
3 who figure in your photographs who are photographers and
4 a press motorcyclist that I know, I did not see any of
5 them rendering any type of assistance to the occupants
6 of the Mercedes that had the accident in the tunnel.
7 "For my part, I also did not attempt to render any
8 type of assistance to the occupants of Mercedes as
9 the police arrived immediately. I even told one of them
10 that Princess Diana was in the car.
11 "On examination: I do not remember whether or not
12 I had taken photographs before the police arrived.
13 "I note that your department has proceeded with
14 developing the negatives that were seized at my home.
15 "I will comment on my photographs for you.
16 "Some of them were taken in the Bois de Boulogne in
17 front of the Villa Windsor. I took those photographs in
18 mid-August only.
19 "Some of them were taken in Rue Arsene Houssaye in
20 Paris, close to l'Etoile. They were taken on the same
21 day as those in the Bois de Boulogne.
22 Some of them were taken when the couple left
23 the apartment in Rue Arsene Houssaye. In fact, I missed
24 Diana as I was talking to somebody when she got into
25 the car.

42
1 "Some of them are of the arrival at the Ritz when
2 the couple returned from this apartment.
3 "Some of them were taken in Rue Cambon behind
4 the Ritz, but I do not remember whether I took them on
5 the first or second exit of the Royal couple.
6 "You are pointing out that if it was the first exit,
7 it would have taken place in the afternoon, based on
8 what I have already told you. In my shots, it is dark.
9 So this is in fact because I took my photographs in
10 the evening when the couple left in the direction of the
11 tunnel.
12 "On examination: you are pointing out that I took
13 seven shots at the rear of the Ritz Hotel when
14 the couple were about to leave in the direction of the
15 tunnel and you are re-reading me my statements of
16 yesterday in which I told you 'that a Mercedes arrived
17 at the back. From that time onwards, everything
18 happened very quickly. The couple got in quickly and
19 separately and the car shot off. I was taken by
20 surprise'. So, in fact, the words 'shot off' are not
21 appropriate for what I really witnessed. And then if
22 I was taken by surprise, it was to put my helmet on and
23 start the engine to follow them.
24 "As I had finished my film, I had to rewind whilst
25 driving in order to follow the Mercedes. But I did not

43
1 put in a new film whilst I was driving. This is
2 impossible.
3 "However, on arrival at the tunnel I put a new film
4 into my camera and I took the shots that your department
5 developed and on which I am going to comment.
6 "I took the front seat passenger whilst members of
7 the public were close to him.
8 "I took the rear seat passengers whilst members of
9 the public were attending to them.
10 "Then I took some whilst the police and the fire
11 brigade were at the scene and removing Dodi from
12 the car.
13 "I cannot tell you whether I took photographs before
14 the police arrived. It is true that you cannot see any
15 police officer or member of the fire brigade in my first
16 shots but this may be because of the angle of vision.
17 "I took my shots of the car and the occupants when
18 I was approximately 3 metres from the scene. I was not
19 very far from the crashed car but I was also using my
20 small zoom lens.
21 "I think I moved forward to 2 metres from
22 the Mercedes in order to take certain shots.
23 "I did not have to push people away in order to take
24 my shots. It is true that people were pushing me when
25 I was taking shots. These people were not in uniform.

44
1 However, they seemed to know what they were doing and
2 attended to the injured. But they were not from
3 the emergency services.
4 "People told us to move away as they did not like us
5 taking photographs. It is for sure that they found it
6 horrible for people to take photographs when other
7 people had been involved in an accident. I took it like
8 that, for me.
9 "On examination: I did actually learn through
10 the media of the investigation being contacted before
11 presenting myself in your department.
12 "I also met Veres in the offices of the German
13 review Bunte at 18 avenue Bessines in Paris when he was
14 reviewed by the judge on Wednesday 3rd September 1997.
15 "I asked him what the police officers had asked him
16 and what he had replied. He told me that he had given
17 my name but that the police officer would look into it
18 later with regard to me."
19 So, that is the second statement of Mr Benhamou.
20 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: I think we had better have our
21 morning break now.
22 MR HOUGH: I think that makes sense, sir, yes.
23 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: We will break off for quarter of
24 an hour.
25 (10.53 am)

45
12 (Jury present)
13 MR HOUGH: Mr Gigou, we now move on to the statement at
14 tab 3E, which is Mr Benhamou's statement before
15 the magistrate on 17th October 1997.
16 Further statement of MR SERGE BENHAMOU (read)
17 I am picking this up on the second page, beginning:
18 "Events prior to the couple's departure from the
19 Ritz."
20 "Reply to question: that Saturday, at around 1630 or
21 1700 hours, I was out on my 80CC scooter when I decided
22 to go to the Ritz. I had thought that as it was at the
23 end of August, Diana and Dodi might visit Paris before
24 returning to London. Had I heard a few weeks previously
25 that the pair had spent a night at the Ritz. I also

46
1 knew that Mr Al Fayed was the owner of the Ritz. Having
2 said that, I had no concrete information that the couple
3 would be at the Ritz that day. When I got there, there
4 were people outside the main entrance to the Ritz,
5 mainly photographers. I know Romuald Rat was there,
6 I also saw Darmon, the motorcyclist for Gamma, for
7 the first time there. He told me that he was standing
8 in for someone. I asked Rat if there was anyone
9 important there. He said no, nothing special. I did
10 not believe him and I found out from a bystander I think
11 that Diana was there or due to arrive. I went back to
12 see Rat and told him what I had heard. He then confided
13 in me that he had covered their arrival at Le Bourget
14 with someone called Petit, and with Ker and Chassery.
15 Once I was aware of all this, I went back home and
16 collected my cameras. I think it was upon returning to
17 the Ritz that I called Laslo Veres who was just back
18 from holiday. He came and met me with his equipment and
19 we teamed up together. As there were two of us,
20 we decided to split up, Veres staying outside the main
21 entrance while I went to the Rue Cambon.
22 "In the Rue Cambon a Mercedes arrived followed by
23 a black Range Rover. The Mercedes was being driven by
24 Dodi's usual chauffeur. I had also seen him during
25 the course of the afternoon. He had actually asked me

47
1 why I was there, given all that had come out about the
2 couple during the summer. I replied that the photos
3 would appear in celebrity magazines, but that it was not
4 a question of money. I added that if the couple agreed
5 to pose for photographs showing this they were in Paris,
6 I knew the other photographers and we would not bother
7 them any more. That is what we do nine times out of ten
8 if people are agreeable.
9 "To return to the subject of the departure from
10 the Rue Cambon, I remember that Rat, Chassery or Ker
11 were there. Arnal and Martinez were not there.
12 The couple got into the Mercedes one after the other.
13 I do not think I had time to get any pictures.
14 I followed on my scooter. We were going very fast."
15 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: We were not going very fast.
16 MR HOUGH: Sorry, we were not going very fast. Small
17 mistake:
18 "We went along the Rue de Rivoli. We arrived at
19 Concorde. We then took the road that leads to the
20 Champs-Elysees. Pierre Suu may have been there with
21 the others. We then went to the Rue Arsene Houssaye.
22 i would add that I knew this address because ten years
23 previously, I had taken Dodi Al Fayed with the American
24 actress Brooke Shields. I also knew another address in
25 the Bois de Boulogne.

48
1 "When we arrived, I was unable to get the couple
2 going into the flat as I had to park my scooter. One of
3 them had already gone inside and when the second one was
4 doing so, I was hindered by a bodyguard. Once the cars
5 had gone and were parked up a short distance away and
6 the photographers were still outside the building,
7 a French bodyguard had an altercation with Romuald Rat.
8 I went over to this bodyguard and told him that it was
9 not right that he should act in that way, as there would
10 be adverse publicity surrounding the Al Fayed family and
11 if we were allowed to do our job, we would do so from
12 a distance. At that point another Frenchman, who seemed
13 to be his boss, came over and said there was no problem.
14 We remained at the corner of the Champs-Elysees. Arnal
15 and Martinez arrived at that moment. I also saw
16 Nikola Arsov arriving by car.
17 "At around 21.30 hours I saw the Mercedes and
18 the Range Rover being positioned in the middle of the
19 Rue Arsene Houssaye. Diana and Dodi got into the car
20 very quickly, one after the other. I took some photos
21 of Dodi Al Fayed at that point. Everyone followed
22 the Mercedes and the Range Rover in a calm fashion.
23 They stopped in front of the entrance to the Ritz.
24 The couple remained in the car for a few seconds.
25 I thought that they might pose for us at that point, but

49
1 again, they got out separately and everyone took some
2 pictures.
3 "After that, we stopped about ten metres away from
4 the entrance and waited. There were about 20 to 30
5 people, lots more than there were in the afternoon.
6 Some other photographers had arrived. There was
7 Langevin and Cardinale from the Sygma agency. I also
8 saw an English photographer who I did not know and who
9 said he was a correspondent for an English paper in
10 Paris. Veres also followed from the Rue Arsene Houssaye
11 and so we were all outside the Ritz. I did a circuit on
12 my scooter from time to time, but as the cars had
13 remained outside the front, I thought the departure
14 would be via the front. Furthermore, we did not even
15 know if they would be coming out again. I thought they
16 might already have eaten in the Rue Arsene Houssaye.
17 We all waited, because in my line of work either
18 everyone leaves together or we all stay put.
19 "I joked with Cardinale because usually the Sygma
20 agency works with appointments and on this occasion he
21 was with us in the street. This would happen from time
22 to time with them when the celebrity was sufficiently
23 important and when they had no appointment.
24 The chauffeurs had remained by the cars.
25 "M Paul, who I did not know by name, but who I had

50
1 previously seen on other assignments at the Ritz was
2 also there. He is generally someone who never speaks to
3 us, he is always very serious and does not talk. That
4 day, I found him particularly jovial and good-humoured.
5 He was making little signs. He returned several times.
6 I said to Langevin, I think he might have been drinking.
7 "I had called Dufour in the afternoon to come to
8 the Ritz. He had come to the Ritz and then to the Rue
9 Arsene Houssaye but he had not stayed as he had to get
10 home for some dinner guests. He was no longer home
11 after that.
12 "After waiting and having discussed things with
13 Veres, we decided that I would go and position myself at
14 the back of the Ritz in the Rue Cambon. Langevin was at
15 that location and I think Chassery, although I am not
16 sure. Alain Guizard, who is an editor and drives a grey
17 205 was there. He was there to give the starting signal
18 to Martinez, who is from his agency, if the departure
19 was via the back. I should point out that people were
20 going to the front and the rear of the Ritz and that as
21 a consequence, it is hard to know precisely who was
22 there. I think that at one stage Pierre Suu also
23 arrived. I know that he was with a motorcyclist.
24 I think he came round to the front later on.
25 "10 or 15 minutes after I arrived at the back of

51
1 hotel, the car stopped in the middle of the road and
2 I thought to myself that they were about to leave.
3 M Paul was by the service entrance. I did not follow
4 him after that because at that moment the Princess and
5 Dodi came out and I took some pictures as the couple got
6 into the car.
7 "Reply to question: I was never aware that the two
8 other cars in front of the main entrance to the Ritz had
9 gone around the Place Vendome.
10 "Events following the couple's departure from
11 the Ritz:
12 "Reply to question: the Mercedes pulled away from
13 the Rue Cambon. I got behind it. I know I saw Langevin
14 leaving on foot but I did not pay any attention as to
15 who was following at that stage. We went along
16 the Rue de Rivoli. I was will to the left of the
17 Mercedes and I saw Ker's 4x4 which was to its right.
18 There was Rat and Darmon's motorbike and the Fiat Uno of
19 Arnal and Martinez. I did not see Guizard at that stage
20 but he may have been there. There was also possibly
21 a second motorbike. I do not recall now who was on that
22 motorbike. I said to the police that it was Suu, but
23 I am no longer sure of this. As he had gone back and
24 forth several times between the Rue Cambon and the front
25 of the Ritz, I cannot say whether he was there at that

52
1 point. I know that Pierre Suu had a red motorbike, he
2 was with his motorcyclist. I cannot, however, remember
3 the colour of the bike behind the Mercedes. I think
4 there were two people on that bike. The Mercedes jumped
5 the first set of lights between the Rue de Rivoli and
6 the Rue Royale. I remember this because I jumped the
7 lights myself in pursuit. He [the Mercedes driver] must
8 however have let a few cars from the right on a green go
9 and I took this opportunity to get a look at
10 the Mercedes and saw that it was M Paul at the wheel.
11 We carried straight on as far as the Hotel Crillon.
12 There is another set of lights there and I think
13 we stopped. The Mercedes pulled away from the lights,
14 which must have changed to green and headed I believe
15 for the Champs-Elysees. It set off at speed as I was
16 left standing. I went with the others, who had also
17 driven off quickly in front of me. I could no longer
18 see the Mercedes at that point. The group did not turn
19 off at the Champs-Elysees and carried on towards
20 the embankment. I followed in that direction. When
21 I reached the first underpass on the embankment I could
22 no longer see anyone. It was midnight. I had already
23 got some pictures. I said to myself that I would come
24 back in the morning and things might be better then. At
25 the end of the first underpass, there is an exit to

53
1 the right, which I took. I then went along
2 the embankment. I arrived at the Alma Bridge. I did
3 not notice anything out of the ordinary. I crossed
4 the Place de l'Alma thinking they might have gone along
5 Trocadero after taking the Alma Tunnel and it was then,
6 after I was about to join the embankment in that
7 direction that, I saw some cars stopped on the
8 embankment in the Boulogne Concorde direction. [so that
9 is west to east] I did not see and cars coming out in
10 the direction of Concorde Trocadero [so that is east to
11 west] I went to the entrance to the Tunnel against the
12 normal direction of traffic. In the distance in front
13 of me I could see the crashed car. I do not think
14 I went up to the car on my scooter. I think I stopped
15 my scooter at the entrance to the tunnel or 10 metres
16 after it. I got off the scooter and went over to
17 the Mercedes. I had my camera round my neck on a strap.
18 In the other direction, Trocadero Concorde, people had
19 got out of their cars and were looking on already. When
20 I got up to the car, I immediately realised that it was
21 the couple's. I saw three photographers at that point.
22 Rat was there. He was talking to himself. He was
23 talking about a pulse. Arnal and Martinez were there
24 too. Arnal said that the emergency services had been
25 called.

54
1 "Reply to question: I do not remember taking any
2 photos before the emergency services arrived. I cannot
3 say if I took any or not. I do not remember.
4 "Roughly five minutes later, a police car arrived
5 with two officers. I spoke to one of the officers to
6 inform him that it was very serious and that it was
7 Princess Diana in the car with Mr Al Fayed. I even said
8 that they should call for additional assistance. I do
9 not think the policeman knew who was in the car when he
10 arrived.
11 "I took some pictures. I have got a 28mm 105 zoom
12 which allows you to take the pictures you want from
13 three or four metres away. I was very shocked.
14 "At this point I saw some other photographers.
15 There was Langevin, who did not know what was going on.
16 I even wondered whether he knew that it was
17 Princess Diana. I also saw two other photographers, Ker
18 and Nicco Arsov, but I did not see him take any photos.
19 I very quickly felt sick and I phoned Laslo Veres so
20 that he could come and replace me as I did not want to
21 stay there. He was at least ten minutes in coming.
22 When he arrived, I told him that I was leaving. In
23 fact, he must have said himself that I should go.
24 I took my scooter and set off fairly quickly. I headed
25 for Trocadero. I did a U-turn back towards the Alma and

55
1 took the bridge which was on the right. I had to speak
2 to someone. I called Dufour from a phone box and told
3 him that it was a catastrophe and that Princess Diana
4 had been involved in the accident. I told him to come
5 and meet me. As he had not arrived after ten minutes or
6 a quarter of an hour I called him back. He said he had
7 not understood what I said to him first time round. He
8 told me that he would meet me at the office. I went to
9 the office. Dufour did not come straightaway. He told
10 me that he had been by the Alma Bridge. He got to
11 the office at around 2 in the morning. He found me
12 prostrate on a chair. At about half past four in
13 the morning, he told me to go home, which I did. When
14 I got home, I did not want to speak to anyone and
15 I disconnected my phone. I could not sleep. My
16 parents, who were worried on hearing the news and
17 thought that some photographers might have been involved
18 in the accident, came to my place. I left with my
19 parents for their home in Drancy.
20 "I was not bothered about coming to give evidence
21 because I was sure that Laslo Veres would have mentioned
22 me. I met Laslo on the Wednesday morning when he was
23 released from custody. He said that he had referred to
24 me and that the police officer had said to him 'we will
25 see Benhamou later'. I then tried to call you. I got

56
1 through to you on the Thursday morning and went to
2 the Criminal Investigation Department.
3 "Question: you said [page D1182] 'As for myself,
4 I did not think, I took some pictures immediately as
5 I arrived without thinking'?
6 "Answer: if I said that, it must be right. I cannot
7 remember now when I took the photos. I do not remember
8 if the police car was there already or not. I think
9 that the rear right-hand door was open.
10 "Question: did you not also say, page 1179 that
11 the photographers were more insistent and hostile than
12 usual.
13 "Answer: what I meant was that if it is an important
14 person who is of interest abroad, we are more on edge
15 amongst ourselves. We share jokes but at the same time,
16 we are all in competition.
17 "Reply to question: I think I rewound my first film
18 either on leaving the Rue Cambon or at the Place de
19 la Concorde. I did not change films at that moment
20 because it is not possible when you are on the move.
21 I changed it on arriving in the tunnel when I had
22 stopped.
23 "Reply to question: when I left, there were loads of
24 cars in the tunnel. The fire brigade were there and
25 I saw a large were orange and grey car with an orange

57
1 coloured flashing light and there were some other police
2 officers. I should add that I did not see any of the
3 photographers' cars or any other people in the tunnel.
4 "Reply to question: when I left, I did so normally.
5 I did not see the other photographers who had been
6 rounded up by the police, at all. However, I did hear
7 from Veres that this had happened one or two minutes
8 after I left.
9 "Reply to question: at no point did I see a Fiat Uno
10 other than Arnal's during this period."
11 And then Benhamou said of his own accord:
12 "I would point out that when talking very recently
13 with Veres, we recalled a car with some people in it on
14 the other side of the Place Vendome. There were often
15 plain clothes police watching the place and I did not
16 pay any particular attention to this on the day. In any
17 event, it was not a Fiat Uno."
18 Benhamou is then asked about some of his
19 photographs:
20 "I have given the police all the photos I took that
21 day and during the month of August. The photos from
22 August were taken by the police from my scooter where
23 I had left them. When I arrived at the office in
24 the night, I wanted to throw the photos away. I did not
25 want them published and nor did Dufour. He got them

58
1 developed on the Sunday. It was on the Monday evening
2 that he brought the two developed films round to my
3 parents'. I brought these films back home on Wednesday
4 and I handed them to the police.
5 "The other persons under investigation."
6 The witness is shown the identity parade photograph.
7 He says this:
8 "Number 2 is Rat. I have probably known him
9 professionally for two or three years. As I have said,
10 I saw him at the Ritz. After that, he was with me all
11 the time, including at the Rue Arsene Houssaye, again at
12 the Ritz, behind the Mercedes in the Place de
13 la Concorde and again in the tunnel.
14 "Number 5 is Serge Arnal. I have known him for
15 a good ten years or so. We do the same type of work.
16 I only saw him from the Rue Arsene Houssaye onwards.
17 After that he was following all the time, to the Ritz,
18 to Concorde and in the tunnel.
19 "Number 6 without his glasses I have a bit of
20 trouble recognising, but I know that it is Langevin.
21 I have known him for 20 years. He mainly covers wars
22 and major stories, he does not do celebrities, or only
23 very occasionally, it is not his thing. I only saw him
24 in the evening in front of the Ritz when the couple had
25 gone inside. He was not very pleased to be there. We

59
1 were, but he wasn't.
2 "Number 4 is Nicholas Arsov, whom I call Niko.
3 I have only known him for a few months since he became
4 a photographer. Before that he was a motorcyclist. On
5 the day of the incident, the first time I saw him was in
6 the Rue Arsene Houssaye. After that, I saw him walking
7 in the underpass but I did not see him taking any
8 photos.
9 "Number 3 is Laslo Veres, with whom I have been
10 working for around twenty years or so. He arrived at
11 the Ritz at about 1800 hours after I called him. He was
12 in the Rue Arsene Houssaye, after which he remained
13 outside the Ritz and then he joined me later in
14 the underpass.
15 "Number 7 is Christian Martinez. I have also known
16 him for roughly twenty years. He arrived with
17 Serge Arnal. They were together with in the Rue Arsene
18 Houssaye and then after that.
19 "Number 1 is Darmon, the motorcyclist. I had never
20 seen him before. I came across him at the Ritz.
21 Following that, he was with Rat all the time. I do not
22 remember him in the tunnel. I do not recall seeing his
23 motorbike at that location."
24 And then he is shown the photograph of five men,
25 reply to question:

60
1 "Number 1 is me.
2 "Number 2 is Chassery. I have known him for three
3 or four years. He is not the same generation as us and
4 we see less of one another. I remember him at the Ritz
5 when we arrived. He was also at
6 the Rue Arsene Houssaye. I do not recall, however, what
7 he did afterwards. I have no recollection whatsoever of
8 him in the tunnel.
9 "Number 3 is Pierre Suu. I have not known him very
10 long either. I saw him in the afternoon at the Ritz and
11 then in the Rue Arsene Houssaye. I also saw him in
12 the Rue Cambon. I cannot however say whether he
13 followed or not and I do not remember him being in
14 the tunnel.
15 "4 is David Ker. I have not known him for very long
16 either, three or four years. He was at the Ritz when
17 I arrived. He told me that he had covered the arrival
18 Le Bourget. He was also at the Rue Arsene Houssay and
19 then at the Ritz. he was alongside the Mercedes at
20 Concorde and I also saw him on foot in the tunnel.
21 I did not know number 5. I saw him in the afternoon and
22 I knew that he was Pierre Suu's motorcyclist. He did
23 the same as Pierre Suu."
24 Benhamou is then shown the photos that we know as
25 the Ritz CCTV album.

61
1 In reply to question, he says:
2 "In several of the photographs and in particular in
3 D1385, I recognise Pierre Hounsfield. He must have been
4 in at the Ritz in the afternoon but I had forgotten he
5 was there.
6 "At page 1378, the person fourth from the left in
7 the second row is Stephane Cardinale. He works for
8 Sygma with Langevin. He only remained outside. He did
9 not follow and I did not see him again. He was not in
10 the tunnel.
11 "I think the individual in front of Cardinale
12 wearing a strange jacket was the English photographer.
13 I had never seen him before. He did not follow. He was
14 only outside the Ritz."
15 Finally with this witness, Mr Gigou, I am going to
16 read the section of the confrontation which is at your
17 tab 11I, and I am going to read the section starting at
18 page 27 which is D5007. And Benhamou's account is
19 summarised and he accepts that it is a fair account.
20 And then there is a response to a question from
21 M Dorzee, M Dorzee says:
22 "I remember Mr Benhamou being in the tunnel. I also
23 remember him leaving very quickly. However, I do not
24 remember him speaking to us in order to tell us who
25 the occupants of the vehicle were and to ask us for

62
1 extra assistance."
2 Then there is a response to a question:
3 "Darmon: it is true, as I have stated that when
4 we heard the fire brigade sirens, Benhamou immediately
5 [word missing] very calmly. He jumped on his scooter
6 and left in my direction. I tried to position myself in
7 front of him to talk, but obviously he did not see me.
8 He went past very quickly. He was very pale and looked
9 as if he was in a trance."
10 Then Benhamou responds to a question:
11 "I did indeed leave in a hurry as I felt very rough
12 but I would stress that when I left, the fire brigade
13 and the bulk of the police had already arrived. Nobody
14 asked me to stay there. When I collected my scooter
15 which was parked at the exit to the tunnel, I pulled
16 away and left through the middle of the police cordon.
17 Nobody asked me to do anything. I would add that I was
18 still present at the scene when the firemen were
19 treating Mr Al Fayed, so I did not leave before
20 the arrival of the emergency services."
21 Reply to question from the witness Dorzee. Dorzee,
22 one of the emergency services people, says this:
23 "I do not remember the precise moment that
24 Mr Benhamou left the scene. I know that when
25 the colleagues arrived, they pushed the photographers

63
1 over to the other side of the road and asked them to
2 remain there."
3 And then there is a reply to a question, this time
4 from the witness Gooroovadoo:
5 "I do not have any precise recollection of
6 Mr Benhamou's presence in the tunnel nor of the time he
7 left. What I can say is that when I arrived at
8 the scene, there were 15 or so photographers and that
9 a number of them left, despite police requests to
10 the contrary."
11 Then there is a reply to a question from witness
12 Bouzid:
13 "I should like to state that immediately after the
14 first fire tender arrived, I saw a number of journalists
15 leave. Mr Benhamou was among the journalists who left
16 at that time. I heard it being said among the group of
17 journalists that 'the cops were coming'."
18 Then there is a reply to a question from M Rat:
19 "I would like to add that at no time did the police
20 ask us to remain at the scene. We were simply asked if
21 we had seen the accident and if we wanted to make
22 a witness statement."
23 Then there is a reply to a question from in
24 Mr Martinez:
25 "I can confirm that on that evening, Mr Benhamou was

64
1 in a state of shock and that his departure was
2 unconnected with the police's arrival. I would add that
3 at that point, the police were trying to get us away
4 from the car and were not asking us to remain at
5 the scene."
6 Then there is a question from Maitre Kiejman who was
7 one of the lawyers and he was representing Mr Al Fayed:
8 "You have stated on several occasions that there was
9 an English journalist outside the Ritz, can you tell us
10 who he was or for which newspaper he was working?"
11 And Benhamou's response:
12 "There was indeed an English photographer, whose
13 name I do not know, I do not know which paper he worked
14 for. He did not follow after the Ritz because I do not
15 think he had any means of transport."
16 Then there is a reply to a question, one from
17 Odekerken:
18 "I heard that on that evening, he was apparently
19 working for The Mirror."
20 And that is the end of the confrontation and I hope
21 the end of the statements from Mr Benhamou.
22 Thank you for enduring that Mr Gigou. Just a few
23 questions from me arising from that.
24 First of all, it is right, isn't it, that M Benhamou
25 gave slightly different accounts in his statement to you

65
1 and his statement to the magistrates about whether he
2 followed the Mercedes for the first part of its journey
3 towards the Place de la Concorde?
4 A. Yes, because as a matter of fact, even to me, he gave
5 different versions and especially concerning the speed
6 at which the Mercedes had left the Ritz.
7 Q. Now, we have CCTV footage which shows him departing
8 really straight after the Mercedes in the Rue Cambon.
9 Is that CCTV footage which you have seen?
10 A. No, only stills taken from the footage from the CCTC,
11 I have never seen moving images.
12 Q. Now, M Benhamou I think identified with him in
13 the Rue Cambon, when the Mercedes left, M Langevin,
14 M Chassery and M Guizard. Are you aware that that also
15 accords with their accounts and the CCTV images?
16 A. Yes, right.
17 Q. Now, M Benhamou at any rate accepts that he was behind
18 the Mercedes in Place de la Concorde on its final
19 journey.
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And we know that he identifies along with him, M Rat and
22 Mr Darmon and Mr Darmon's motorcycle?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. M Martinez and M Arnal in their black Fiat Uno and
25 M Odekerken in his light 4x4 and certainly at one stage

66
1 he identifies M Langevin.
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Are you aware that M Odekerken and M Langevin did not
4 accept that they were right behind the Mercedes in
5 the Place de la Concorde?
6 A. No, I do not recall that precisely now.
7 Q. Now, on his account, M Benhamou was behind the Mercedes
8 in the Place de la Concorde but got left behind on the
9 embankment road. And just for the benefit of the jury
10 here, are you aware that M Rat and Mr Darmon accept or
11 have accepted that they were at the head of the pack?
12 A. I do not remember whether they were -- whether they were
13 leading the pack but what is for sure is that they were
14 riding proper motorcycle that was more powerful than
15 Benhamou's scooter.
16 Q. Are you aware of this: the only two people on
17 two-wheeled vehicles who have accepted that they were in
18 the Place de la Concorde behind the Mercedes, were Rat,
19 Darmon and Benhamou?
20 A. No, I did not remember until you reminded me.
21 Q. Now, you I think have the bundle of photographs there in
22 front of you, could you look please at page 25.
23 Is this right: This was the first photograph in
24 the tunnel which Mr Benhamou handed over to the police?
25 A. Yes.

67
1 Q. If we turn to the previous page, page 24, do we see
2 there the last photograph before the tunnel which
3 Mr Benhamou surrendered to the police?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And is this right, that when he presented himself to
6 the police on 4th September, M Benhamou provided
7 negatives but they were cut strips?
8 A. Well, I do not remember that precisely now, but it must
9 be in the minutes because we must have taken what was on
10 him when he presented himself to the police on the 4th.
11 Q. Final point: could we have on screen please [INQ0002508]
12 which is one of the telephone records, and could
13 we focus in on the call made at 00.25.29.
14 Now, it may be difficult for you to see, Mr Gigou,
15 but this is a record of a telephone call made from
16 Mr Benhamou, I think I am right in saying, to Mr Veres
17 at 00.25.29. Now, we know that the crash took place at
18 some time between 22 and 23 minutes past, is that right?
19 A. Yes. It was at around this time, yes.
20 Q. So that suggests a call by Benhamou to Veres, as
21 Benhamou described and that call would have been made at
22 about one minute after Veres left the Place Vendome, as
23 we have seen on CCTV camera footage. I do not know if
24 you are aware of that?
25 A. Well, I do not remember precisely.

68
1 MR HOUGH: Thank you very much, those are my questions.
2 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Mansfield?
3 MR MANSFIELD: No thank you.
4 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: Mr Weekes?
5 MR WEEKES: Yes, sir.
6 Questions from MR WEEKES
7 MR WEEKES: Mr Gigou, I represent the parents of Henri Paul.
8 A. Good morning, sir.
9 Q. Good morning. I only wish to ask you about one matter
10 and that is what Mr Benhamou told you and told
11 Judge Stephan about Henri Paul's behaviour on
12 the evening of 30th August 1997.
13 Now, as we have heard, but it is probably helpful
14 after all of this evidence to have a brief reminder, on
15 the 4th September 1997, when you interviewed
16 Mr Benhamou, Mr Benhamou said to you:
17 "I saw a man I know as a security guy from the Ritz
18 Hotel coming out via the back exit. I had seen him in
19 front of the hotel, he was having a laugh, thumbing his
20 nose at us slightly and at the rear he was still
21 smiling. He seemed cheerful. He saw us and laughed.
22 I could not understand why. I would add that that man
23 had never behaved like that before. Usually he ignored
24 us, he thought of autograph hunters and photographers as
25 two of a kind. I thought that he was not his usual self

69
1 and I even said to some people, it must have been at
2 around 22.30 hours on 30th August 1997, that he must
3 have been drinking. The condition he was in, all his
4 reactions led me to believe that he had been drinking."
5 So, is it fair to say from that evidence the reason
6 Mr Benhamou gave to you for thinking that Henri Paul had
7 been drinking was that he was more cheerful and more
8 outward going than normal?
9 A. Yes, and it is in his testimony. It is the fact that
10 Mr Paul was more cheerful and did not ignore them, which
11 he normally would, that made him think that he had been
12 drinking.
13 Q. Indeed, and just to make it clear, Mr Benhamou did not
14 say, for example, that had he ever seen Henri Paul
15 drinking?
16 A. No, at no point in time, including the testimonies that
17 we have just been hearing again, does Mr Benhamou that
18 he had seen Mr Paul drink anything.
19 Q. And indeed, did he not say that he had seen Mr Paul
20 staggering or that he had heard Mr Paul's voice being
21 slurred?
22 A. No, everything that Mr Benhamou said to me is in
23 the minutes. If he had told me anything of the kind, it
24 would be in the minutes.
25 Q. Indeed.

70
1 LORD JUSTICE SCOTT BAKER: And that includes what he told
2 you:
3 "All his reactions led me to conclude that he had
4 been drinking"?
5 A. Yes, as a matter of fact, I just record