Court rejects appeal over Dando murder

Barry George, the man jailed for life for the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando, today lost his appeal against conviction.

Barry George, the man jailed for life for the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando, today lost his appeal against conviction.

George, 42, who claimed his conviction was "unsafe", was in the dock at the Court of Appeal in London to hear the ruling by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, sitting with Mr Justice Curtis and Mr Justice Henriques.

Barry George
Barry George who lost his appeal against the conviction for the murder of BBC presenter Jill Dando.

Lord Woolf, reading from a 60-page written judgment, said: "The important thing in this case is the evidence as a whole. Looking at the evidence as a whole we have no doubt as to the correctness of the conviction."

George was sentenced to life imprisonment in July last year after being found guilty of the April 1999 shooting of the 37-year-old BBC Crimewatchpresenter on the steps of her home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, south-west London.

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George, from Crookham Road, Fulham, denied murder, but a jury at the Old Bailey, following deliberations of more than 30 hours, returned a guilty verdict by a majority of 10 to one.

His appeal centred on the crucial question of identification, with his lawyers arguing that his trial should have been halted because the majority of the evidence on that issue was inadmissible.

The Crown contested the appeal arguing that his conviction was safe.

George sat behind bars in the dock with three police officers.

As the judgment was read, he slouched to one side with his head cocked. His only reaction when the words "we dismiss this appeal" rang out was to raise his eyebrows, before being led back to the cells.

George's counsel, Michael Mansfield QC, told the appeal court there was no fingerprint, footprint or DNA evidence against his client.

Mr Mansfield also argued it was possible jurors might wrongly have continued deliberating on the guilt or innocence of George during their stay at a London hotel, which could have given rise to a miscarriage of justice.

PA