Al Fayed 'told us to intervene'

Colleagues of Shropshire bodyguard Trevor Rees were ordered to "get to him" as he lay in hospital to stop him revealing any details of the Paris crash in which Princess Diana died, the High Court has heard.Ben Murrell, a security officer for the al Fayed family, told yesterday's hearing that he was working on the orders of their boss, Mohammed al Fayed, hours after the accident which killed the 36-year-old princess and Dodi al Fayed.

Mr Rees, from Oswestry, was the sole survivor and is expected to give evidence on Wednesday.

Mr Murrell, a security officer at the Villa Windsor in Paris at the time of the crash, said Mr Rees's family, travelled from the UK to Paris, where Mr Murrell acted as a "liaison".

He said his role started off as a "duty of care" role as Mr Rees's family were at his bedside. However, he said his role changed and he was ordered to stop Mr Rees's family saying anything "adverse to the interests of the al Fayed family".

Mr Murrell said his article in a national newspaper was accurate where he said in the days after the Paris crash, Mr Rees was not expected to survive.

He agreed that when it was realised Mr Rees would live, he and Mr Wingfield were ordered to "get to" him before he could make a police statement.

In the article Mr Murrell said: "These instructions came from Mohamed al Fayed. We were told to tell Trevor he would be looked after and he shouldn't say anything to the police about the accident.

"But security at the hospital was so tight only family were allowed to visit Trevor.

"When this was relayed back to Mohamed, we were told he went mad and said we must see him. Eventually Kes managed to get in. Trevor could not speak but he could write."

Mr Murrell told the jury that Mr Rees told him he was unhappy about the security arrangements.

Giving evidence via videolink from Nigeria, Mr Murrell agreed that an account in The Sun in relation to a conversation with Mr Rees was accurate.

In the article Mr Murrell said: "Trevor was at his wits' end when he arrived with Diana and Dodi at the Villa Windsor on August 30.

"He was really angry. He said Dodi always came up with his own plans which basically meant problems for the security people.

"He was going to have it out with Dodi and tell him he had to listen to advice."

The hearing continues.