Bodyguard denies immigrant murder

Tran Nguyen arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry in 2006

A celebrity bodyguard accused of murdering a drugs gang member has told Cardiff Crown Court he believed he was being hired as a debt collector.

Paul Harrison, 37, who is 6ft 9in, and five other men deny murdering illegal Vietnamese immigrant Tran Nguyen.

Mr Nguyen, 44, was beaten up and left unconscious at a hospital in Newport in November 2006 where he later died.

The prosecution claim Mr Harrison was hired to kill Mr Nguyen because the gang believed he stole from them.

But Londoner Mr Harrison, who claims to be a minder for American rappers Eminem and 50 Cent among others, told the jury he was not involved in the murder.

I do not use violence. I am not a violent dude Paul Harrison

He said: "I believed I was being brought in as a debt collector.

"When people ask me to be present somewhere I don't ask any questions, I just do it.

Mr Harrison went on: "People like to use me because of my height and because I look intimidating. I do not use violence. I am not a violent dude."

He told the court he visited a house near Heathrow where Mr Nguyen was allegedly being held by the gang.

But he claimed that Mr Nguyen had already been assaulted and left within 10 minutes.

Low profile

He said he expected at least £200 for the debt collecting job but was never paid.

Mr Harrison told the court he can earn as much as £1,000 for one job as a bodyguard for American stars like Eminem.

He told the jury the first he knew that Mr Nguyen had been murdered was when police arrested him in July 2007.

Asked by the prosecution if he was keeping a low profile after the murder he said: "If I was trying to keep a low profile I would change my car, change my phone number and move away."

Mr Nguyen, 44, was allegedly beaten at an address in New Road, London, after he was accused of stealing from the cannabis crop he tended in Newport.

Mr Harrison, together with Bac Phoung Nguyen, 30, of no fixed abode, Quynh Van Huynh, 51, of Caldwell Street, London, and Thanh Van Le, 31, Son Van Nhu, 24, and Cong Van Le, 48, all of Canterbury Road, Feltham, Middlesex, all deny his murder.

Father-of-two Mr Nguyen had arrived in Dover from Germany in the back of a lorry in September 2006, and found work at the cannabis factory.

Two months later, he was carried into the Royal Gwent Hospital by two men who fled the scene, and he subsequently died of head injuries.

The trial continues.