George ‘Not Involved in
Jill’s Murder’
The following article was printed on around
August/September 2003 in the Bristol
Evening Post:
George 'Not Involved In Jill's Murder'.
A
New publication has cast doubt on the murder conviction of Barry George -
killer of TV golden girl Jill Dando.
Trial and Error: The Case of Barry George has been written by Scott Lomax, an
archaeology student at Sheffield
University.
It has been published by the Libertarian Alliance, a little-known free market
and civil liberties think tank.
Last July, three of the country's most senior judges dismissed George's
appeal against his conviction for murdering the Weston-superMare-born
TV presenter on her Fulham doorstep in April 1999.
But Lomax said: "Despite having his appeals dismissed at the Court of
Appeal and the House of Lords there is a large amount of information, much of
which the jury never heard and some of which the appeal judges
misinterpreted, to prove that beyond doubt Barry Michael George had no
involvement in causing Miss Dando's death." In his publication, Lomax
claims there was no evidence to suggest that George had an obsession with, or
even an interest in, firearms during the 1990s.
By this time his interests had moved on to music and, in particular, Freddie
Mercury, said Lomax.
"George is only able to focus his mind on one interest at a time and so
his life is filled with different periods where he was interested in one
subject, " he said.
"When this period closes he ceases to be interested with the subject any
longer, or at least his interest diminishes so that he no longer actively
involves himself with the interest." The 1980s gun magazines were found
in George's flat because he was a hoarder, said
Lomax.
"Unless he absolutely had to remove something from his flat, he never
removed it. For this reason it took the police many days to conduct searches
of his flat, " he said.
Lomax also claims that there was "very little evidence" to suggest
that he had any interest in Jill Dando.
"George finds it impossible to keep his interests and hobbies to himself
and he talks with such enthusiasm that it can escape no one's attention of
what it is that occupies his mind, " said
Lomax.
"However, no one has been able to inform the police that George had ever
mentioned the woman he allegedly killed.
"George had taken thousands of photographs of women and television presenters.
However, none of these were of Miss Dando yet the jury was never told this.
"George collected newspapers. The police found over 800 newspapers in
his flat.
In all of these only eight articles were found which referred to Miss Dando.
"It would have taken George many hours, if not days, to work his way
through all of the rubbish and all of the many pages in the newspapers, to
find these articles, none of which were highlighted or marked out in any way.
"Would an obsessed man want to search for lengthy periods of time for
articles that discussed the target of his affection?" Lomax also claims
that there is "significant evidence" to suggest that the police
influenced Susan Mayes' identification of George as the killer.
During his trial, George was said to have been desperate to find an alibi for
his movements on the day that Ms Dando was killed.
Lomax said this was because he suffered from paranoia - something the jury
wasn't told.
George had been interviewed in connection with the murder of Rachel Nickell in 1992 because of his criminal record. Because
of his paranoia, such an experience with the police deeply worried him.
From that point on he had always feared that he would be blamed for crimes
committed near where he lived, said Lomax.
"When Miss Dando was shot less than half a mile from where he lived, and
when the police provided a description of the man they were hunting that
matched the appearance of George, then he expected the police to turn up at
his home at any time.
"He told people that he feared 'they' would blame him for Miss Dando's
murder. This would explain why George felt he had to verify his movements on
the day of the murder." He said: "Neither the police nor the
prosecution have ever discovered a reason why George would wish to shoot Jill
Dando.
"A murder weapon has never been found and at no point has George made a
mistake by providing incriminating information." Several leading
writers, including Brian Cathcart and award-winning journalist Don Hale, have
also cast doubt on George's conviction.
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