Inquest: Paul appeared to be drunk

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Serge Benhamou also admitted taking pictures of the bodies to the disgust of horrified members of the public.He is among a number of paparazzi who have refused to appear, either by videolink from Paris or in person at the London inquest, and whose police statements are being read out.

In his first statement, made on September 4, 1997, Mr Benhamou said he recalled seeing Mr Paul, the Ritz security man, at the back of the Paris hotel.

It was late on August 20 1997, just a few hours before the crash which killed Diana, her lover Dodi Fayed and Mr Paul, the inquest into their deaths heard.

Mr Benhamou told police: "He (Mr Paul) must have been drinking. I believe that he was drinking."

Mr Benhamou said Mr Paul "was not his usual self".

He said he was slightly "thumbing his nose" at the photographers. He was smiling and cheerful and "I would add that the man never acted like that before".

In his police statement, Mr Benhamou said: "I am positive that the man described as being from the security department at the Ritz appeared to be drinking and is indeed the same one that took the wheel of the Mercedes at the rear of the hotel."

He was among photographers who had swarmed around the hotel and then set off, shadowing the Mercedes in which Diana was travelling.

Mr Benhamou, who was on his scooter, said he did not take any pictures along the journey from the Ritz to the Alma Tunnel, scene of the crash. He claims he lost touch with the car as it moved through Paris.