Paparazzo Won't Testify In Diana Inquest

French Photographer Refuses To Appear In Court "Either Today Or Any Day"

(AP)  A French photographer has refused to testify at the inquest into the death of Princess Diana.

The coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, said Romuald Rat had received a summons to give evidence by video link from Paris. The inquest was told Tuesday that Rat responded, saying he would not appear "either today or any day."

Baker was prepared to allow the jury to hear previous statements made by Rat and other paparazzi who pursued Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, in Paris before their fatal August 1997 car crash.

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Photos: Images From The Inquest

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But on Monday, the Court of Appeal sided with a lower court in ruling that those statements could not be presented without giving attorneys representing various parties the opportunity to question the witnesses.

2Kenneth Lennox, former picture editor of The Sun, had told the inquest he was telephoned by someone offering pictures of the crash for 300,000 pounds - then the equivalent of $484,000 - and identified the caller as Rat.

On Tuesday, however, Lennox told the inquest he has accepted that Rat and other photographers were already in police custody at the time of the call.

In an e-mail to Martyn Gregory, author of a book about Diana's last days, Rat denounced Lennox's earlier story as defamatory, according to Britain's Press Association news agency.

The e-mail was not read to the inquest jury.

[cutebig]

Why people don''t let Diana go? She has gone. DOn''t bother her anymore. Many fans of Daina at largeplace.com are sad to hear this kind of news

[justfacts2]

I do believe his last name is very fitting to the type of person Romauld is. I say subpoena his a$$ and force him to go to court. The sooner these papparazis take responsibility for their actions and are punished for it, the sooner this will stop. But since this inquest is being held in France, and their court system isn''t like ours, subpoenas won''t do any good.