Sickness delays retrial of Barry
George
Published Date: 30 June 2008
By John Hogan
THE retrial of Barry George for the murder of Jill
Dando has been delayed after the defendant and a member of the jury
contracted a flu-like illness.
The retrial, which has been ongoing for the last month,
was adjourned after four weeks of proceedings, which have seen the
prosecution paint Mr George as a celebrity-obsessed loner, who stalked women
near his home for years.
Mr George, whose family is from Limerick,
was convicted in 2001 of the murder of Ms Dando two years previously. The
Court of Appeal in London
quashed the conviction in 2007, however, after the Criminal Cases Review
Commission undermined a fundamental piece of evidence.
The Forensic Science Service found that a trace of gunshot residue found in
the pocket of Mr George's pocket in 1999 was not damning evidence that he had
shot Ms Dando.
In the 2001 trial, the gunshot residue was described as "compelling
evidence of guilt", and helped sentence Mr George to life.
However, the Criminal Cases Review Commission found last year that too much
weight had been put on the evidence which led to the order of a retrial from
the Court of Appeal.
Mr George's family has always maintained his innocence.
Over the last month, the jury has heard testimonies from a number of women
who claim they were harassed by George over the years, including a claim by
Londoner, Claudia Casey, that the 48-year-old once grabbed her in the street
and she only escaped by jumping into a stranger's car.
Another one of George's neighbours, Angela Gordon, alleged that he approached
her outside her home and asked to kiss her. Police subsequently discovered
photographs of Ms Gordon's car amongst thousands of other undeveloped
pictures of women, including several television presenters.
In the last week, Mr George received words of encouragement from a human
rights campaigner and author of several true crime books, including two on
the Jill Dando case.
Scott Lomax, author of "The Case of Barry George" and "Justice
for Jill", reiterated his claim as the trial was adjourned that Barry
George has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
"It's unfortunate that there is a delay to the trial but this will not
affect the eventual outcome which we hope will see justice for both Barry
George and Jill Dando eventually being achieved," said Mr Lomax
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