Seven `paparazzi' claim driver taunted them

Before leaving the Ritz Hotel after midnight, Princess Diana and Mr Dodi al-Fayed first sent two decoy cars in hopes of fooling the photographers.

That didn't work and, according to Mr Gilbert Collard, lawyer to one of the seven paparazzi still being held last night, the drunk driver, Mr Henri Paul, challenged the waiting photographers, saying: "Anyway, you'll never catch us."

In their cells at the Brigade Criminelle the paparazzi who pursued the couple to their fatal crash must have hoped to be exonerated when they heard yesterday that Mr Paul was drunk, with more than three times the legal amount of alcohol in his blood.

But the revelation did not entirely clear the photographers of responsibility for the accident. Under French law, they must either be released or charged this morning. Six of the photographers are French, the seventh is from former Yugoslavia.

Four work for the mainstream French photo agencies Sygma, Sipa and Gamma, which cover news events as well as celebrities. Two are employed by the paparazzi agencies Angelli and Stills, and one is freelance.

The arrest of the seven and unanswered questions about their involvement in Princess Diana's death have inspired an unprecedented debate in France about press ethics and the right to privacy.

Referring to harassment of the dead princess, Le Monde columnist Pierre Georges referred to "a crime of media mores, of permanent, incessant, exasperating persecution".

In a flood of interviews, paparazzi, directors of photo agencies and their lawyers have claimed that the public who buy millions of gossip magazines each week must share the blame for Diana's death, an excuse also used by British photo editors.

Judicial authorities yesterday weighed contradictory evidence on three questions: how far were the photographers from Princess Diana's Mercedes; did they telephone for help when they saw the crash, and did they impede rescue attempts by continuing to shoot photos at the scene of the accident?

Most of the 10 witnesses questioned by police placed the photographers nearly 100 metres behind the Mercedes, rejecting reports of a zig-zagging motorcycle in front of the car, which would have caused the driver to lose control.

The motorcycles would have had difficulty keeping up with the Mercedes, which was travelling at 196 kph.

Judicial sources last night expected the paparazzi to be cleared of causing the accident by darting too close to the car, which could have brought charges of manslaughter or endangering lives.

At least one of the paparazzi is believed to have used his portable cellphone to call the police and rescue workers - which could absolve the photographers of "non-assistance to persons in danger", a criminal offence in France.

Three or four of the paparazzi may nonetheless be indicted on this same charge for rushing to shoot pictures of the bleeding bodies trapped inside the Mercedes.

Some witnesses said they pushed aside rescue workers whose presence spoiled the image in the viewfinder and told policemen to "let us do our work".

One or two photographers fled before they could be arrested, and police yesterday carried out searches in several press agencies, looking for film they were not able to seize at the scene of the accident.

These runaway photographers appear to be the source of photos offered to the US National Enquirer for $1 million. The Enquirer turned them down, but the German magazine Bild published two shots. If identified, the photographers in question could be charged with leaving the scene of a crime.