Cork man cleared of TV star Jill Dando murder gets trial date for alleged rape in 1987

Barry George was arrested on suspicion of murder in 2000, a year after TV presenter Jill Dando was killed

Barry George, who spent eight years in prison after being wrongly convicted of the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando. File picture

A trial date has been set for the man cleared of murdering TV presenter Jill Dando who has been accused of raping a 14-year-old girl almost 40 years ago.

Barry George, 66, originally from Ballincollig in Cork, previously pleaded not guilty at Southwark Crown Court to one count of rape and two counts of indecent assault.

He also denied an alternative offence of attempted rape.

The incidents are alleged to have taken place in the Hammersmith and Fulham area of west London between September 6 and 12 1987.

A hearing was held at the same court on Tuesday and a trial date was set for April 26 next year.

Judge Tony Baumgartner, the Recorder of Westminster, fixed the trial date and also said a pre-trial review would take place on April 12.

George was arrested on suspicion of murder in 2000, a year after Ms Dando was killed.

He was convicted in 2001, but the conviction was quashed in November 2007 by the Court of Appeal and he was cleared by a jury in August 2008 after a retrial.

Former Crimewatch presenter Dando, 37, was one of the BBC’s highest-profile stars when she was shot outside her home in Fulham, west London, on April 26 1999.

No-one has been convicted of her killing since.