Diana inquest jurors to get armed guards... and Harrods workers are banned

As the opening stages of the hearing - expected to last up to six months - finally began at the High Court yesterday, prospective jurors were told the measure was to prevent them being "hassled or harassed".

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The Metropolitan Police's jury protection team will be responsible for transporting the 11 men and women between home and court for the duration of the inquest.

The arrangement, which is unusual even for criminal trials, emerged only as jury selection for the high profile case began.

Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker told 80 prospective jurors: "I am very anxious that you should not be harassed or hassled in any way during the inquests.

"That is why arrangements have been made to collect you from home and return you there.

"If you are in any way hassled or harassed you should immediately tell one of my officers who will take the appropriate steps and report it immediately to me."

It is thought to be unprecedented for such arrangements to be made for a jury sitting at an inquest.

Only 2 per of inquests are heard by juries. In criminal trials, jury protection is ordered less than 20 times a year.

But as Lord Justice Scott Baker warned the prospective jurors, they had been summoned "not for any ordinary case".

Arriving at Westminster Coroner's Court yesterday morning, the group had no idea that the letter calling them to jury service might involve them in the inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed in Paris ten years ago.

The potential jurors - who will be charged with deciding once and for all how the Princess died - were taken by coach to the High Court.

There Lord Justice Scott Baker conceded they were probably "shocked" to be called without advance notice.

He told them: "The deaths of these two people have created worldwide interest on an unprecedented scale.

"You have to put out of your mind anything you have heard out of court. It will not be easy to do that in this particular case but you will have to."

A rigorous selection process was being enforced in order to try to ensure that the inquest, which has already been hampered by a change of coroner, runs smoothly.

Jurors - chosen at random from the electoral roll in West London - were ordered to fill out a questionnaire in which they had to reveal any connections to the Royal Family, the Spencers, the Metropolitan Police or Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed.

Mr Al Fayed's son Dodi was killed alongside the Princess in the August 1997 crash in a Paris road tunnel.

Some 227 were originally summoned to jury service, but that number had

shrunk to 80 yesterday.

After the questionnaires were completed it was down to 25, and by Tuesday the pool of jurors will be whittled down to 11, ready for the inquest proper to begin.

The following Monday the jury will go to Paris to the scene of the crash.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that decisions on deployment of the jury protection squad - which will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds - were determined by the judge.