John Travolta: Blackmailed for $25 million by paramedic

John Travolta: Blackmailed for $25 million by paramedic

Actor John Travolta was blackmailed for $25 million after he allegedly refused medical help son Jett, who was in dying condition after suffering a massive seizure, a court heard yesterday.

The frantic Travolta told ambulance crews to drive his son Jett, 16, to an airport so he could be flown back to the U.S for treatment instead of a local hospital.

A paramedic, who was present their, finally asked a senior police officer to witness a 'refusal of medical attention' form.

Prosecutors said that the paramedic Tarino Lightbourne is accused of keeping back the document and threatening to release it to the public unless Travolta paid him.

At the first trial witness, police inspector Andrew Wells said that Jett was loaded into an ambulance, Lightbourne told him that Travolta wanted his son taken directly to the local airport instead of the hospital. Wells said Travolta signed a release form.

Wells also told the nine-person jury that he signed the form as a witness and the ambulance sped away.

But it was unclear why Jett Travolta was taken to the island's Rand Memorial hospital instead of nearby Freeport international airport. On the arrival at the hospital, Jett was pronounced dead.

Travolta, who filed the extortion complaint, is among 14 people on the witness list scheduled to testify against Lightbourne.

Another paramedic, Derrex Rolle, testified on Tuesday that Jett was unresponsive and showed no signs of life when he arrived at the actor's home inside a resort community.

Travolta could also be called to testify. Prosecutors have not said when the actor might take the stand.

A jury of six women and three men was seated in the Supreme Court case on Monday.