The singer was found unconscious by his children and was resuscitated by a quick-thinking bodguard

Michael Jackson’s children thought their dad had died of an overdose eight years before drug addiction killed him, it has been claimed.

Prince and Paris, four and three at the time, were said to be inconsolable when they saw their father laid out cold in 2001.

But quick-thinking bodyguard Michael La Perruque saved the King of Pop by performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before paramedics arrived to stabilise him.

He said the children were “crying, saying they couldn’t wake up daddy” when they found him in the hallway of their hotel suite at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

The revelations emerged at Los Angeles Superior Court, where the star’s mother Katherine Jackson and his children are suing AEG Live for £100million.

They claim the concert promoter ­negligently hired and supervised Dr Conrad Murray, who is currently behind bars for the singer’s ­involuntary manslaughter.

The singer was found by his children ( 
Image:
Wenn)
Mr La Perruque, giving evidence for AEG, told the court he believed the collapse was drug-related, but medics claimed there was no evidence of this.

He said Jackson often appeared under the influence of drugs and he feared the star would suffer an overdose.

The security chief said Jackson would call him 20 to 30 times from his hotel room “in the middle of the night”.

He told jurors: “His speech would be very slurred. There would be a lot of mumbling and I wouldn’t be able to comprehend what he was saying. I think he was just lonely and wanted to have somebody to talk to.”

Mr La Perruque said he would sometimes notice empty wine bottles from the hotel room’s minibar, but he never saw drugs.

He also said he never saw Jackson take medication but added: “It was my concern that, yes, he may overdose.” Mr La Perruque explained that he never confronted Jackson about his drug use because he “didn’t want to put him on the defensive”.

Michael Jackson was found unconscious ( 
Image:
Getty)

He said he feared this would create a barrier between them and added: “I wanted to be able to be close to him, to monitor him, to protect him.”

Jurors were also shown photos of a music video filmed at Universal Studios in 2001, an appearance by the singer at a fundraising event for the Democratic Party in 2002 and an American Bandstand ­­Anniversary event that year.

The bodyguard testified that he was with the singer at those events.

Jackson’s cameo appearance in blockbuster Men in Black 2 was also shown in court. Lawyers for the Jackson family said the videos were ­significant as AEG’s attorneys argued the singer had not done any significant work since his HIStory Tour in the late 1990s and were trying to portray him as under the influence of drugs.

But images were also shown to the court which further detailed his tragic spiral into dependency on prescription pills.

Michael in happier times ( 
Image:
Mirrorpix)
The shots, released by Los Angeles Police Department this week, showed numerous pill bottles, oxygen tanks and medical supplies littered around the ­superstar’s bedroom at the time of his death.

Jackson, 50, was killed by an ­overdose of anaesthetic propofol on June 25, 2009.

Dr Murray, who worked ­for Jackson as he prepared for his planned This Is It shows, prescribed the drug to help the megastar sleep.

Debbie Rowe, the mother of two of ­Jackson’s children, is due to give evidence at the trial later this week.