Man cleared of Dando murder accepts damages

BARRY GEORGE, the man cleared of murdering Jill Dando, has accepted “substantial” libel damages over tabloid claims he was a stalker and could also have been a murderer.

Mr George accepted the undisclosed amount offered by News Group Newspapers – owner of The Sun and the News of the World – at the High Court in London yesterday.

Mr George, from London, spent seven years in jail for the 1999 murder before being acquitted after a retrial in August 2008.