Former fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir has told a court that he fled Britain because he was a "broken man without hope".<br />Nadir said he could not see how he could get a fair trial on theft charges in 1993.<br /><br />His offices had been raided, his papers seized and there was an allegation that an attempt had been made to bribe his trial judge.<br /><br />Nadir, 71, said: "I was a totally broken man. My health was in tatters, my hope of a fair trial was in tatters, I had zero hope of receiving a fair trial."<br /><br />Nadir was giving evidence at the Old Bailey where his trial for theft is in its fifth month.<br /><br />The former head of Polly Peck International (PPI) is accused of siphoning off £150 million from his business empire.<br /><br />The company was put into administration in 1990 with debts of £550 million.<br /><br />Nadir, of Mayfair, central London, denies 13 specimen counts of theft amounting to £34 million between 1987 and 1990.<br /><br />He fled Britain for his native Northern Cyprus before he could be tried, returning voluntarily in August 2010.<br /><br />The prosecution says his flight from the country for 17 years is evidence of dishonesty.
