By Peter Allen, in Paris
A British multimillionaire, who vanished after the death of his girlfriend in a five-star Paris hotel room and was later found living in a tent outside Macclesfield, has gone on trial in France for her murder.
Businessman Ian Griffin, 45, denies killing Kinga Legg, 36, whose battered body was found in a bath at the Bristol in the French capital in May 2009.
He has admitted hanging a Do Not Disturb sign on their £1000-a-night suite before disappearing in his Porsche 911 sports car.
Staff later found Ms Legg's body covered in bruises, with blood spattered on a mattress and walls.
A search was launched for Griffin and the following month he was found living in a tent in woodland outside the Cheshire market town.
He was extradited to France in May 2011 and placed on remand, but was unexpectedly released from a high-security prison in Paris last March.
Griffin, who was placed on bail but has had his passport returned, said at the time: "I'm as astonished as anybody by what has happened now."
Speaking from a £2000-a-night suite at the George V Hotel, where he was staying with his new girlfriend, Tracy Baker, Griffin added: "Just a few days ago I was sharing a tiny cell with an alleged murderer, who killed with a shotgun.
"I could run away to anywhere in the world but I'm determined to stay in France to clear my name."
Miss Baker, a 33-year-old who is expected to attend the trial at Paris Assizes, is forging on with her own career as an entrepreneur, appearing on Dragon's Den earlier this year.
It was on Saturday, 23 May 2009, that Griffin, checked into the Bristol Hotel, close to the British Embassy in central Paris.
Griffin, who is originally from Warrington, has said both he and Ms Legg were addicted to benzodiazepine, the tranquilliser linked with side effects including extreme violence and attempts by users to take their own lives.
Court hearings have revealed an extremely volatile relationship between Griffin and Ms Legg.
Referring to Griffin's behaviour on the evening of Ms Legg's death, a British court extradition judgement reads: "He claimed that he remembered nothing else that happened until he woke up the next morning to find her lying in bed.
"The room had been trashed and its contents broken. At first, he thought she was asleep, but he noticed blood around her mouth.
"He tried to wake her and put her into a hot bath and gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He realised that she was dead. He panicked and left.
"He left in his father's car but realised after a time that he could not drive safely, and so he called his parents to collect him from France. He remembered little else."
Polish-born Ms Legg ran a successful firm exporting more than 300 million tomatoes a year from Poland to major companies such as McDonald's, Tesco and Carrefour.
Her company, Vegex, had a UK base in Oxshott, Surrey, where she and Griffin rented a £3m executive mansion.
The trial of Griffin, who faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty, is expected to last until Friday.
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