Wrapping up a week of questioning by defence lawyers at his trial in Houston, Enron's former chief executive said he "bled Enron blue" and was devastated by its collapse.

"The horrific failure of the company has been made worse by these sorts of inaccuracies, " he said.

In some of the most animated testimony, Skilling was taken through the 28 counts of fraud and conspiracy and angrily batted them away, calling many "absurd".

He said the US government did not come to a "balanced" conclusion about the events that led to the $70bn (�?�58bn) energy company's spectacular failure in 2001. "The reasons for that failure would be clear if people looked at it fairly, " he said.

Skilling is accused of presiding over massive fraud and misrepresenting Enron's financial health to Wall Street.

But on the stand yesterday, he continued to set out his view that the company was brought down by a loss of confidence among creditors, triggered by hedge funds who were betting on a decline in its share price.

He said short sellers would infiltrate analyst meetings to make damaging insinuations - a practice that led him to call one an "asshole" on a telephone conference call.

Prosecutors will crossexamine Skilling when the trial resumes next week.

They will try to prise apart discrepancies in his evidence, and will ask why he, too, was selling Enron stock in 2001.

It was also revealed this week at trial that Skilling made $15m (£8m) from bets against the share price of a rival energy company.

Speaking from the witness stand, Skilling sought to explain why he persistently sold Enron stock in the weeks after he left the company in August 2001.

Among the 28 counts of fraud and conspiracy are charges that he engaged in insider trading by selling stock when he knew Enron was a house of cards on the verge of collapse.

Several of his Enron share sales were intended to raise funds for bets against its rival AES, he told the jury in Houston.

He estimated he had made $15m from short-selling AES stock over three weeks.

Skilling said he poured his Enron-based wealth into property and cars.

On a pair of Land Rovers he has parked in his garage, he raised laughter by saying:

"They don't work. That's why you buy English cars, there is always something to work on."