George wins Dando murder appeal

Barry George has won his appeal against his conviction for the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando.

George, now 47, was present in the dock of the Court of Appeal in London as the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, and two other senior judges allowed the appeal and called for a retrial.

No application for bail was made and Lord Phillips said that George would be remanded in custody.

George, dressed in a sober suit and dark blue shirt, smiled at his sister, Michelle Diskin, as he was led out of the dock.

It was George’s second legal challenge to a jury’s 2001 verdict that he shot the 37-year-old BBC News, Crimewatch and Holiday presenter on the steps of her home in Fulham, south west London, in April 1999.

The new appeal centred on fresh scientific evidence relating to a single microscopic speck of firearm discharge residue found in George’s coat after his arrest a year after the shooting.

Commenting on the decision Alan Farthing, Ms Dando’s fiancee at the time of her murder, said: “I am disappointed, particularly for those of us who have suffered the tragedy of losing a loved one prematurely.”

George was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2001 after being found guilty by a majority of 10 to one at his Old Bailey trial.

The first challenge to his conviction was rejected by the Court of Appeal in July 2002.

The latest proceedings follow a decision by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent body which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, to refer George’s case back to the Court of Appeal.

I always thought this conviction was suspect, a guy with the mentality of 6 yrd old (UGO),
Easy pickings to put the blame on him. So the question has to be asked, who are they covering for :?: