Inquest: Diana unlawfully killed

LONDON, April 7 (UPI) -- The London inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and her lover, Dodi Fayed, has found the pair was unlawfully killed.

The jury ruled that driver Henri Paul contributed to the deaths by driving drunk and members of the paparazzi and their drivers contributed by "racing" the Mercedes carrying Diana and Fayed and driving so close to the vehicle that Paul's ability to maneuver was impaired, Sky News reported Monday.

"This is the most serious verdict that the jury could come back with," said Sky News correspondent Sarah Hughes, who was present at the High Court for the ruling. "The coroner set a very high threshold for this decision of unlawful killing."

"He told the jury during the summing up that unlawful killing due to gross negligence amounted to a verdict of manslaughter," Hughes said.

Sky News said the jury's findings rejected the conspiracy theories supported by Mohamed al Fayed, Dodi's father and Paul's employer.