RyanDOT
01-08-2008, 01:39 PM
Barry George has been found not guilty of murdering BBC television presenter Jill Dando outside her London home.
Mr George, 48, of Fulham, west London, denied shooting 37-year-old Miss Dando on her doorstep on 26 April 1999.
He was retried at the Old Bailey, having first faced trial for the killing in 2001.
His defence argued he was not capable of carrying out what could be seen as the "perfect crime" that required "meticulous" planning.
Mr George has consistently insisted he did not murder Jill Dando.
He was arrested on 15 May 2000, a year after the shooting.
Forensic evidence about a tiny speck of gun residue in Barry George's coat helped secure his original conviction.
The prosecution said this proved that he had fired the fatal shot and he was convicted by a majority of 10 to one.
But the evidence was not permitted at the retrial.
The Court of Appeal ruled new scientific doubts over gunshot discharge residue evidence meant the conviction had to be quashed and ordered a retrial.
Eight years
The jury of eight women and four men were sent out to deliberate on Wednesday after an eight-week trial.
Extracts from Barry George police interviews.
Mr George showed no reaction as the verdict was read out. He nodded as psychiatrist Dr Susan Young, who sat with him in the dock during trial, whispered to him.
He is expected to be released later and walk free from the Old Bailey after spending eight years in prison.
The Crown Prosecution Service defended its original decision to bring the case.
In a statement it said: "Mr George now has the right to be regarded as an innocent man. But that does not mean it was wrong to bring the case.
"Our test is always whether there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction; it would be wholly wrong only to bring cases where we were guaranteed a conviction."
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44731000/jpg/_44731111_barry_george_pa226body.jpg
Barry George denied killing the Crimewatch presenter
Source from BBC News
Mr George, 48, of Fulham, west London, denied shooting 37-year-old Miss Dando on her doorstep on 26 April 1999.
He was retried at the Old Bailey, having first faced trial for the killing in 2001.
His defence argued he was not capable of carrying out what could be seen as the "perfect crime" that required "meticulous" planning.
Mr George has consistently insisted he did not murder Jill Dando.
He was arrested on 15 May 2000, a year after the shooting.
Forensic evidence about a tiny speck of gun residue in Barry George's coat helped secure his original conviction.
The prosecution said this proved that he had fired the fatal shot and he was convicted by a majority of 10 to one.
But the evidence was not permitted at the retrial.
The Court of Appeal ruled new scientific doubts over gunshot discharge residue evidence meant the conviction had to be quashed and ordered a retrial.
Eight years
The jury of eight women and four men were sent out to deliberate on Wednesday after an eight-week trial.
Extracts from Barry George police interviews.
Mr George showed no reaction as the verdict was read out. He nodded as psychiatrist Dr Susan Young, who sat with him in the dock during trial, whispered to him.
He is expected to be released later and walk free from the Old Bailey after spending eight years in prison.
The Crown Prosecution Service defended its original decision to bring the case.
In a statement it said: "Mr George now has the right to be regarded as an innocent man. But that does not mean it was wrong to bring the case.
"Our test is always whether there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction; it would be wholly wrong only to bring cases where we were guaranteed a conviction."
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44731000/jpg/_44731111_barry_george_pa226body.jpg
Barry George denied killing the Crimewatch presenter
Source from BBC News