[article] Diana Death Inquest Jury Verdict.

mike65

from Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/07/diana.monarchy

Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed were unlawfully killed by the reckless driving of their chauffeur, Henri Paul, and the paparazzi who chased them, jurors in the inquest into their deaths decided today.

The verdict, by a nine-to-two majority, brings to a close a six-month inquest that has heard from more than 240 witnesses and is expected to have cost the taxpayer over £10m.

The jury, who deliberated for more than three and a half days, had to deliver the same verdict on both Diana and Dodi. They were told they had to be "satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt" that the deaths were caused by gross negligence.

The coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, set a very high threshold for returning an unlawful killing verdict on the deaths, saying it would be equivalent to a finding of manslaughter. It is one of the most serious verdicts they could have delivered.

Although a verdict of unlawful killing could trigger a criminal prosecution, British courts to not have the jurisdiction to try events in France and the coroner was not able to compel French paparazzi photographers to appear before the inquest. An earlier French investigation of the crash cleared the paparazzi photographers of responsibilty for the deaths.

Along with verdicts, the jurors had to decide on narrative factors they believed contributed to the deaths. They unanimously agreed that the fact the couple were not wearing seatbelts was a determining factor, as well as the way in which the Mercedes crashed into a pillar in the Alma tunnel.

Mike.

DMC

Thanks.

/me will now avoid British media for the next day or so....

lostexpectation

good verdict, surprised they blamed both henri paul and the paps, gald to see they mentioned the lack of seatbelts