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Barry George – convicted of killing Jill Dando – is up for review.
Personally, I’ve always had my doubts about the case.
Not just the weakness of the evidence, but because he just didn’t match the crime.
After the killing, the police thought it was the work of a professional hitman.
Does it really make sense that it could look "professional", but really be the work of some delusional fantasist with "a variety of personality disorders"?
And, that this nutjob could somehow avoid arrest for over a year?
IMO, it doesn’t add up.
Any thoughts?
Steve
Steve, if they can’t lock up nut jobs for crimes that are too difficult to solve then what is the world coming too.
He should never have been convicted in the first place obviously.
Wasn’t he the bloke who named himself after Freddie Mercury’s real name?
If so, I’d say twenty years minimum.
Mike
I haven’t followed this case very much but I did hear yesterday that the only forensic evidence was a microscopic fragment of something that might have been gunpowder. And that the judge warned the jury to ‘proceed with extreme caution’.
Sounds a little precarious to me.
The way I heard it was that fibres found on his person matched those of the murder weapon. As much as that is the only piece of solid evidence involved, I’d still say it’s quite hard to explain away.
And when the judge asked the jury to ‘proceed with caution’, that was likely to be because of the media frenzy that surrounded the case.
I read a book about the case.
Although the author was trying to prove that George did it, he mentioned that the way the jacket was handled was contrary to the rules and could have caused contamination.
e.g. they took the jacket out and photographed it where there was firearm residue.
Steve
I have also read/watched quite a bit about the case and the accused couldn’t hardly string a sentence together never mind plan and execute a murder.
That evidence should never have been allowed.
One of my mates did a lot a work in and around the Fulham area prior to Dando’s murder. The fact that Barry George is a ‘nutjob’ is without question. He used to ride down the Fulham road on a pushbike with a blowup doll on his back to give one example!
However, it is also without question that the soundness of this conviction was questioned from day one. A number of books have been written on the subject and the producers of the prodigious and award winning Rough Justice took up his case which led to his first appeal, an act they would not undertake lightly.
Equally however, as I understand it (I’m not a lawer and am happy to be corrected) the purpose of an appeal is not to re-establish a person’s innocents or guilt given the original evidence, that was the role of jury. But, rather to establish whether a) the law has been applied correctly i.e. the jury where not mislead or b) to examine new evidence which on the basis of sound reasoning may have led the jury to reach a different verdict.
Therefore, if the reports are correct that this new appeal has been granted based on the unreasonable strenght given to the gunpowder forensic evidence this will be judged against the judge’s summing up statement ‘proceed with extreme cautious’. In the case of a jury trial it has to be believed they (the jury) did as was instructed by the court. Therefore, the judge’s words stemming from his clear concern of the strenght of evidence may be the very thing that keeps Barry George in prison for a long time to come.
Personally, I don’t believe he did it for much the same reasons as Stevedgd stated.  <br>
I know quite a lot about this so can’t go into any depth, but I would say that whilst I think he probably did do it, he probably should not have been convicted…
Quote: from non vintage on 2:03 pm on June 22, 2007[br]I know quite a lot about this so can’t go into any depth, but I would say that whilst I think he probably did do it, he probably should not have been convicted…
<br>???
You know quite a lot about it – and therefore cannot go into depth?
Barry George is free at last and looks like he’ll get around £100k for every year he spent in jail.
Not bad work if you can get it.
But if you are stitched up fort a crime you did not commit why should you not get some compensation?
I don’t believe he was stictched up at all. I think he did kill Jill Dando.
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I don’t believe he was stictched up at all. I think he did kill Jill Dando.
We can’t really say that for certain though and a court of law has let him go, which they dont like to do very often.
Isn’t the bloke meant to be retarded or something? If so I would have thought £20,000 per year at a push, would have covered it.
This has been coming for years, the evidence against him was a nanospeck of gun residue which was probably the result of cross contamination due to poor handling by the police, and two witnesses. One who was having an affair with an investigating officer and another who couldn’t pick Barry George out of a line up in the weeks after the murder but who changed her mind over a year later and said it was him.
No evidence of him having a gun, no evidence of him having a grudge against or an obsession with Dando. Just a man with an IQ of 75, and a history of crimes against women. George is not a saint, but that wasn’t the point at issue. He didn’t kill Jill Dando.Himself – I’d be interested to hear why you still think he did it.
Himself – I’d be interested to hear why you still think he did it.
I know that he was initially convicted due to circumstantial evidence. But the circumstantial evidence is compelling.
He sought an alibi soon after Jill Dando had been shot. Why ? Seems strange that an innocent man, supposedly unconnected to the murder, would go out of his way to seek an alibi. The woman he asked said he was in an agitated state, which seemed quite odd to her, given the fact that she knew him. He denied being in Gowan Avenue that day. He lied.
He continually lied to the police who were interviewing him. He said he had no knowledge of Jill Dando. In fact, he argued that he had never even heard of her – yet photos and cuttings of her were found in his flat. Clearly he DID know who she was. Why did he lie ?
He was a serial stalker who was obsesssed with celebrities and had a worrying predilection for firearns. He denied that the masked man holding a pistol in the picture police found in his flat was him.
He had a history of tormenting women. He followed and accosted many women – some of whom said they were scared witless by the experience.
He attempted to rape one of them.A strand of Jill Dando’s hair was found on his clothing, as was the firearm residue. I believe that no cross contamination occured.
The Police are convinced that they have got the right man. So am I.
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