TOP COP: I DIDN't LIE ABOUT DI ; He Blasts Conspiracy Claim

Jan 18, 01:32 AM

A FORMER police chief yesterday angrily denied claims that he was part of a "murderous" conspiracy over Princess Diana.

Lord Condon told Mohamed al Fayed's barrister the allegation was "abhorrent" and "disgusting".

Giving evidence to the Diana inquest, he said it amounted to calling him a murderer.

As Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Condon was the most senior policeman in Britain at the time of Diana's death.

Michael Mansfield QC suggested he deliberately covered up evidence as he knew Diana had been killed because of the activities of "British state agencies".

The extraordinary exchange happened during cross-examination about the so-called "Mishcon Note". The document records a meeting with Diana's lawyer Lord Mishcon in 1995 at which she spoke of fears of a car crash.

Mishcon, who has since died, handed the letter to Condon 18 days after the 1997 crash in Paris in which Diana was killed with Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul, the High Court inquest heard.

But it was not passed on to Royal Coroner Michael Burgess until 2003 after a similar letter was made public by Diana's former butler Paul Burrell, the jury were told.

Mr Mansfield put it to Condon that he had a legal duty as early as 1997 to pass on anything "germane" to the case to the relevant coroner.

Condon said that wasn't how he viewed it at the time.

But Mr Mansfield persisted, saying: "The reason why potentially relevant material was not handed to the coroner immediately ... was that you were sitting on it knowing that something had gone wrong in Paris linked to the work of British state agencies."

Coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker interrupted, asking: "You are suggesting, are you, that Lord Condon was part of a criminal conspiracy?"

Mr Mansfield said: "Yes."

Condon replied: "That is about the most serious allegation that could ever be made of someone in my position and I totally refute it as a blatant lie."

The inquest continues.

(c) 2008 Daily Record; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. TOP COP: I DIDN't LIE ABOUT DI ; He Blasts Conspiracy Claim
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