Diana Inquest: Expert Dismisses Drinking

Expert Testifies Amount Of Alcohol Driver Consumed May Not Be Relevant

(AP)  An expert testifying at the British inquest into the death of Princess Diana said the amount of alcohol consumed by her driver was not necessarily a factor in the fatal crash.

French and British police have concluded that driver Henri Paul, acting security chief at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, was well over the legal alcohol limit.

Paul and Diana's boyfriend Dodi Fayed also died when the car crashed Aug. 31, 1997, in the Pont d'Alma tunnel in the French capital.

John Searle, who was hired by the Ritz Hotel, said drinking was not necessarily relevant.

Searle testified that the amount allegedly consumed by Paul would have increased his risk of accident 10-fold.

That meant, he said, that Paul's risk of having an accident while driving 2.5 miles was the same as that of a sober driver traveling 25 miles.

"There is a risk, but it's a small risk, it still remains a one in many thousands chance of having an accident," Searle said Monday.

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Photos: The Paparazzi Photos

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"The accident rate is increased ... by a very significant amount, but that does not mean that it must necessarily have a bearing upon what has happened and why," Searle said.

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Photos: Images From The Inquest

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"There are other factors also that counterbalance that one."

Fayed's father, Mohamed al Fayed, holds the lease on the Ritz.