Diana inquest:

A motorcyclist swerved to avoid the car crash which killed Diana, Princess of Wales and quickly left the scene without stopping, the inquest into her death was told on Monday.
# Princess Diana: Full coverage of the inquest into her death

A motorist who was driving in the opposite direction at the time said the motorbike "emerged from the smoke" coming from the crashed Mercedes immediately after the impact.

Diana crash wreckage
The inquest judge has released several photos of the crash scene

The jury has been told it must decide whether there is any truth in conspiracy theories surrounding Diana's death, including the suggestion that the crash was arranged by MI6 officers who used an anti-personnel flash gun to blind Henri Paul, who was driving the car.

The inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London was not told whether the unnamed motorcyclist has ever been traced. Other witnesses have told the jury of a "major flash" in the tunnel immediately before the crash and of up to four motorcyclists who appeared to be riding just feet away from the Mercedes.

Grigori Rassinier, whose statement was read to the jury, said that as he entered the Alma tunnel in Paris on August 31, 1997, he saw the Mercedes "juddering" as if still coming to a standstill after smashing into a pillar in the central reservation.

"I heard a hooter followed by the sound of braking and then saw a motorbike emerge from the smoke," he said. "It swerved as if it were avoiding the crashed car. The motorcycle left very quickly after having executed the swerve. It seems improbable that the motorbike stopped before setting off again."

He believed the motorbike, ridden by someone dressed in beige and with no passenger, had been following the Mercedes closely but not so closely as to be involved in the accident.

Mr Rassinier added that he had caught a glimpse of a woman who proved to be Princess Diana as he passed the wrecked car.
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"The interior light of the crashed car was on," he said. "As a result I could see two heads in the back of the car. I noticed that the rear right hand passenger was a woman. She had her hand raised and was crushed against the front seat."

Another witness recalled seeing a man in a suit calmly walking out of the tunnel talking on a mobile phone moments after the crash.

Sarah Culpepper, who was on a weekend trip to Paris, was walking along the banks of the River Seine with a friend when she heard a "massive crash" in the underpass.

She ran to see what had happened, and looked over a wall overlooking the exit to see a dark stationary car and a man in his early 40s, with slightly receding hair and wearing a dark suit with a blue shirt and tie, leaving the tunnel.

"I jumped to the conclusion that someone was trying to get reception to call an ambulance," she said.

Ian Croxford QC, counsel for the Ritz Hotel, which employed Mr Paul, said: "He appeared, as you watched him, did he, to be walking in a perfectly normal confident manner... and in watching his demeanour, the way he carried himself, he appeared to be acting in a perfectly normal or professional way?"

Miss Culpepper said: "Yes... he dealt with it extremely well... I presumed he was calm and confident."

Two investigations into the crash, in which Mr Paul and Diana's boyfriend Dodi Fayed also died, concluded that it was caused by Mr Paul driving excessively fast whilst being more than three times over the French drink-drive limit.

Mohamed Fayed, father of Dodi, believes Diana and his son were assassinated on the orders of Prince Philip to prevent them marrying and having a child together.

The inquest continues.