A gay masseur has told a court about a central London hotel room encounter with a Saudi prince that was 'like mixing Nigel Havers with Omar Sharif'. Louis Szikora visited Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud for an 'erotic massage' three days before the prince allegedly murdered his servant, the Old Bailey heard.
Mr Szikora described Saud, who he was said to have met at the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, central London, as 'very dashing' and a 'thorough gentleman'. He said that after being called to the hotel for a two-hour 'erotic' session in the early hours of February 12 he had initially given a more conventional massage.
You don't walk in the door and then jump on them. I don't know what's on their mind. They could be nervous. Once I felt the rapport was warm I felt able to continue. Saud, 34, is accused of killing Bandar Abdulaziz during a ferocious attack with a 'sexual element' in the hotel room three days later. He admits causing the year-old's death but denies murder, as well as a second charge of grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to an alleged attack in a lift on January Mr Szikora said he had earlier received a phone call from the prince asking if he was the person who appeared in a video on an 'extremely homoerotic' massage website where he advertised his services.
The prince asked how soon he could see him and he said it would take an hour, and the masseur went to meet him at the hotel, the court heard. He added: 'He booked the more erotic massage but when I arrived he seemed very tense.
Something was bothering him and I thought it was because I was very late. He didn't blame me. He seemed extremely pleased and happy that I came. He was a thorough gentleman. It seemed to me he needed to be calmed down rather than sexually excited.
