Jury out in Dando murder trial

A jury was sent out today to consider its verdicts in the trial of Barry George, accused of murdering TV presenter Jill Dando.

George, 48, denies killing Miss Dando, who was shot dead on her doorstep in Fulham, west London, in April 1999.

Prosecutors say that he is a celebrity-obsessed stalker and the only candidate for the killing, which had no “rational motive”.

However, his lawyers say George, the “local nutter” with psychological problems, did not have the ability to carry out the meticulously-planned murder that appeared to be the “perfect crime”.

Mr Justice Griffith Williams sent out the jury of eight women and four men to begin its deliberations today, seven weeks after the trial began.