BARRY GEORGE, the man acquitted at a retrial of killing BBC television presenter Jill Dando, has been awarded undisclosed damages by a London court, believed to be in six figures, from the Sunand the News of the World.
Mr George spent seven years in jail after he was convicted at his first trial of killing Ms Dando outside her home in southwest London in 1999, but was cleared and released in August 2008.
In November of that year, Mr George, who has learning disabilities, gave a number of interviews “in an attempt to satisfy the demands of the press and be left in peace”, his barrister Gordon Bishop told the court.
Immediately after his acquittal, Mr George was interviewed by News of the World reporters and the following day by Kay Burley from Sky News. The Sun then followed up with a series of articles which described issues kept from the jury.
News Group, the owners of the News of the World and the Sun, now accepts that the Sun’s articles would have been understood to mean that there were grounds to suspect Mr George of the murder despite his acquittal, Mr Bishop said.
The News of the World later attributed a quote to Mr George saying he could not have killed Ms Dando because he was stalking another woman at the time. The newspaper now accepts that this quote was fabricated.
Equally, the newspapers accept that Mr George did not become obsessed with Ms Burley after his interview.
Mr George was in the Old Bailey yesterday, alongside his sister Michelle Diskin, a mother of three who lives in Ballincollig, Co Cork, who had fought for his release.