'I'm not that smart,' confesses Hilton

Paris Hilton has confessed she is "not that smart" in a newly-released police interview tape.

The recording was made when the star helped officers with an investigation into a burglary at the house of Hollywood porn baron Joe Francis. Hilton had previously tipped off the movie producer that she heard a man boasting he was behind the crime.

Having interviewed the offender, however, police called Hilton in to ask her if she could help with the prosecution. "Like I really, I don't remember," she is heard to tell them on the recording, which was uncovered by US television show Dateline. She added: "I'm not, like, that smart. I forget stuff all the time."

The man in question, Darnell Riley, admitted the offence earlier this year and was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison.

On the tape Hilton also complains to police that someone had tried to blackmail her for the return of 'private tapes' which were stolen from her home. She said an anonymous caller tried to sell them back to her but that she had refused.

"They were tryin' to sell it to like a newspaper or something," she explained. "So if you pay somebody, then you're gonna be paying for the rest of your life. My dad always taught me. They'll keep the tape anyway."