Police to study Dando killer's 'confession tape'

Detectives are set to study a tape on which Barry George is claimed to admit murdering Jill Dando.

The News of the World reports George was recorded by a fellow prisoner during a conversation.

George was convicted last year of the BBC presenter's murder but has always maintained his innocence. His appeal against the conviction will be heard soon.

On the tape a voice asks: "Why did the police arrest you in the first place, do you think?"

Another voice, said to be George's, replies: "Why? Because I, I was the person who committed the murder."

There is no confirmation yet that the voice is George's and the dialogue on the tape is muffled, indistinct and even inaudible in parts.

It is also said to contain an involved discussion about the timing of alibis and the nature of the trial judge's directions to the jury, reports The News of the World .

The tape is said to have been recorded accidentally by Rafal Gutarewicz while he and George were in Whitemoor Prison. He was trying to record himself playing a keyboard and accidentally left the tape running.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We will study any potential new evidence carefully. We are not prepared to discussed the issue further while the case is subject to appeal."

Miss Dando was shot in the head on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, west London, in April 1999.