Man convicted of Dando murder refused bail pending appeal

THE man convicted of the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando was refused bail yesterday pending a second appeal in November.

Barry George, aged 47, heard in June the Criminal Cases Review Commission had referred his case to the Court of Appeal after “a thorough and intensive review”. At the Court of Appeal in London yesterday Mr Justice Treacy rejected an application for bail.

BBC presenter Ms Dando was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, south-west London, in April 1999. Mr George was jailed for life in 2001 when a jury found him guilty of the murder by a majority verdict.

The case is being reviewed, after the Criminal Cases Review Commission undermined a fundamental piece of evidence.

The Forensic Science Service has agreed that a trace of gunshot residue found in the pockets of George’s coat was not damning evidence that he had shot Dando. The review found the residue could have come from anywhere and was of no evidential value.

At the trial in 2001 the speck was described as “compelling evidence of guilt”. Chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Prof Graham Zellick, said too much weight had been place on the speck.

Michael Bourke, an uncle of George who lives in Co Limerick , said yesterday: “I visited Barry last Saturday. He is well and looking forward to his appeal. That may be in early November, but could change. The court could then release him or send him for a fresh trial. Or dismiss the appeal.”

Mr Bourke, who is a brother of Barry’s mother, Mary, tried to persuade Mr George to engage Gareth Peirce, the solicitor whose work got the Guilford Four out of jail. “I don’t think he would have been sent for trial or at least would not be convicted if he had the benefit of her experience. But that is history. I visit him in HMP Whitemoor four or five times a year, along with his mother who tries to visit every month.”

Mr Bourke said: “He only had his mother, his sister, Michelle, and me to back him in the early stages. I was dismayed to see him committed for trial on such flimsy evidence, a dodgy piece of forensics, and an equally dodgy single witness who claimed to see him standing by an untraced car over four hours before the murder on Jill Dando’s street. Jill no longer lived there; she was in Chiswick with her fiancée.”

Mr Bourke said his nephew is unhappy with how he was treated by the police. “Barry believes, as I do, that his coat was contaminated, which would explain the strongly disputed single particle which the police claim is gunpowder residue. BBC Panorama had an Italian expert, Professor Morin, who disputes if it is really gunpowder.”