British designer John Galliano can't recall 'anti-Jewish tirade'

Fashion designer John Galliano has told a Paris court he was so out of control on drugs and alcohol he did not recall hurling antisemitic insults at strangers in a bar earlier this year.

Looking thinner than in his last public appearance, Galliano, with long sandy hair and trademark, razor-thin moustache, and wearing leather trousers, arrived in a hushed courtroom prepared to defend himself against charges of antisemitic behaviour.

He stood as a judge read out charges against him and repeated statements he allegedly made in an incident in Paris on 24 February, including "dirty Jewish face", "f*****g Asian bastard I will kill you", and "f*****g ugly Jewish bitch".

Asked whether he remembered the insults, Galliano said: "I don't remember very well … I have no recollection. I have a triple addiction - alcohol, sleeping pills and Valium."

Galliano's career is in tatters. He was fired from fashion house Dior in March, after a video posted online showed him drunkenly telling a woman that he loved Hitler and saying her parents might have been gassed in a Nazi death camp.

French police first questioned the British designer in February after a couple accused him of hurling racist abuse at them on the terrace of a caf.

Magistrates are expected to arrive at a decision quickly in the trial, which pits Galliano, 50, against two accusers - a woman who claimed not to have heard of him before their encounter and another whose accusations relate to events last October.

If found guilty, Galliano could face a six-month jail sentence and a fine of up to €22,000 (20,000). But precedents in similar cases suggest a more likely outcome is a fine of a few thousand euros at most.

Galliano, who has repeatedly apologised for his remarks on the video clip, told the court he had started drinking "cyclically" in 2007 when business was booming. He said professional pressure grew during the financial crisis as he signed licensing deals for his own brand, "John Galliano", with several new collections coming out to save the brand from failure.

"For every creative high, I would crash and drinking would help me to escape," he said.

Asked why he did not admit to being drunk and on drugs to the police, he said: "I was in denial. I was still taking those pills and alcohol."

One of his accusers, museum curator Geraldine Bloch, said she heard the word "Jewish" linked to another insult "at least 30 times" while sitting next to Galliano at the La Perle bar.

Witnesses, including a waiter and another customer, said they had not heard the word Jewish, according to statements read out in court. Bloch, who complained of harassment after she pressed charges, said she found this "surprising" given how loudly the words were spoken. "There were variations, but the word Jewish kept coming back," she said.

Bloch's lawyer has said she will seek symbolic damages of €1 and publication of the court's decision in two fashion magazines, Elle and Vogue, and French daily Le Figaro. Yves Beddouk said his client was interested not in Galliano's money, but in getting him to acknowledge the alleged antisemitic tirade publicly and make a show of contrition which befits his reputation.

Galliano's lawyer, Aurelien Hamelle, has said he will call a toxicology expert to testify that the designer, with his triple addiction, would have been in a state of utter abandon.

Galliano left France shortly after he was fired by Dior and received treatment for substance abuse in the United States.