Claim ‘local nutter’ could not have killed Jill Dando

THE meticulously planned killing of television presenter Jill Dando could be considered the “perfect crime” — but could not have been carried out by “local nutter” Barry George.

William Clegg, defending, told the jury at London’s Old Bailey yesterday that George has “personality problems”, but argued: “The only reason that the prosecution say that this is the work of the local loner, the local nutter, the man with these serious psychological problems, is because that is the man they arrested.

“But if you look at the facts of the case they will give you a very different story.”

The April 1999 murder of the popular BBC Crimewatch presenter was “meticulously planned, carefully prepared” and “thoroughly professional”.

But George, aged 48, who denies murder, did not have the motive or the expertise to do it, Clegg claimed.

Dando, 37, was shot at close-range on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, west London, just 30-40 seconds after locking her car on a Monday morning. The killer escaped in what many people may think was the “the perfect crime” but George is not that man, Clegg stressed.

The killer may have hid in waiting in the overgrown bushes at Dando’s home and pressed the gun close to her head to muffle the sound of the blast so that no one could be alerted, he suggested.

Clegg told the court: “You may think that the killer would have known what he was doing.

“He had planned it, executed it with clinical efficiency and put into place an escape plan that included leaving behind no trace or clue to connect him with the crime.

“Make no mistake, this killer managed to shoot a woman in broad daylight in the front garden of her home in a busy suburban street without making a sound and escape undetected — that was no stroke of luck, that was meticulous and careful planning.

“It was, you may think, the perfect crime.

“It certainly defeated one of the biggest manhunts that this capital city has ever seen for over a year. There were, it seems, no leads.

“So who was this master criminal who outwitted Scotland Yard?

“Who was the man who outwitted Campbell of the Yard (Metropolitan Police DCI Hamish Campbell)? Our Barry — what do you think? Lightbulb’s flickering maybe but remember, it is only a 40-watt bulb when it is completely lit.”

Several of the women whom George has stalked and undoubtedly frightened have given evidence.

Clegg said: “It is perfectly true he follows women every day, hundreds and hundreds in a year, but he has not shot them dead.”

George took thousands of photographs of women as they walked home and kept a stash of newspapers that included stories about celebrities, the jury heard.

None of them highlighted Dando, he said.

Of the murder, Clegg said: “There is nothing unique or special about this crime, we submit, which points towards this defendant.”

The hearing continues today.