JEFFREY SKILLING pledged yesterday to take the witness stand in his own defence after the former Enron chief executive was branded a liar during opening statements in the long-awaited trial of the bankrupt energy company’s most senior executives.

Dan Petrocelli, Mr Skilling’s chief defence lawyer, told the jury of four men and eight women in Houston, Texas, that the former Enron chief would not stand idly by after government prosecutors accused him of destroying a company he had devoted his life to building.

“I’m committing to you right now that this man will take the witness stand,” Mr Petrocelli said during an impassioned opening statement.

Mr Skilling is accused of 31 charges, including fraud, insider trading and conspiracy, in the events leading up to the record bankruptcy of Enron in December 2001.

Alongside him is Kenneth Lay, the former Enron chairman, who is accused of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Both men deny the charges.

“You could not keep him off that witness stand,” Mr Petrocelli added, gesturing towards Mr Skilling.

“He is going to tell you in his own words whether he did any of those things. He’s going to tell you how much he loved that company.”

Mr Petrocelli’s statement followed that of John Hueston, the US prosecutor, who told jurors that Mr Lay and Mr Skilling were crooks who had lied to Enron investors.

Mr Lay and Mr Skilling “told lie after lie about the true financial condition of the company,” Mr Hueston said. “Those lies propped up their stock holdings and deceived investors about information they needed.”

Enron had a market value of more than $68 billion (£38 billion) before its bankruptcy filing wiped out more than 5,000 jobs and at least $1 billion in retirement funds overnight.

Investors suing over the company’s collapse claim that accounting fraud led to at least $25 billion in losses.

The case against the former Enron executives is the most high profile of the recent rash of corporate fraud trials in the US. It is expected to last until the end of May.