French judge removed from Diana driver case

PARIS, Jan 25 (AFP) – The French judge supposed to be looking into allegations of evidence-tampering in the Princess Diana death enquiry has been taken off the case after being accused of inaction, justice officials said Tuesday.

Corinne Goetzmann was appointed in July 2002 after the parents of Diana’s chauffeur Henri Paul filed suit alleging that the blood samples which showed that their son was drunk and on prescription drugs were someone else’s.

Paul died in the 1997 car crash in central Paris, along with Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed, whose father Mohamed Al-Fayed has not ceased to claim that it was caused deliberately.

Goetzmann has twice ruled that there is no case to answer in the affair, but each time Paul’s parents and Al-Fayed have appealed. Earlier this month the high court of appeal ruled that the judge had exceeded her powers and ordered her to be replaced.

The official enquiry into the deaths concluded in April 2002 that the crash was caused by a combination of excessive speed and Paul’s state of drunkenness.

© AFP