Dando judge orders investigation over juror's papers

The judge trying the Jill Dando murder case has ordered an investigation into how someone could have tampered with a juror's papers.

The juror reported discovering a handwritten note bearing the words Not Guilty as the court sat on the sixth day of the trial.

The juror handed a message note to the usher saying the note was not in their writing, and this was then passed to the trial judge, Mr Justice Gage.

The judge told the seven women and five men on the jury that the note should be completely ignored, and added: "No one should have written on your paper at all. I will try and find out how it happened."

He said the courtroom was sealed over the weekend and added: "We will be even more vigilant now."

He would see that jurors' papers were taken by the usher and kept safe over any adjournments, and that another usher would be in the courtroom.

The jury then continued to hear prosecution evidence on the death of TV presenter Miss Dando, who was shot through the head outside her home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, west London on 26 April, 1999.

Barry George, 41, unemployed of Crookham Avenue, Fulham, denies her murder.