David Mills, a UK lawyer accused of taking a bribe from Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's billionaire prime minister, yesterday apologised for his "mistakes" but denied in a letter to a Milan court that he was guilty of corruption.

Italian reporters at the Milan hearing where Mr Mills is on trial said Nicoletta Gandus, the presiding judge, read out a nine-page letter from Mr Mills, who was not present. In the letter Mr Mills apologised for the trouble he had caused Mr Berlusconi, as well as Diego Attanasio, a businessman who, according to Mr Mills, paid him for business services.