Barry George revisited.

[Nicholas]

Sept 2006
“A row has broken out over the basis of information used in a Panorama documentary about the murder of television presenter Jill Dando.

Award-winning journalist Don Hale has accused Raphael Rowe, the presenter of the programme, of using old material, a claim which Rowe strongly denies.

Hale told Press Gazette: "I'm accusing him of plagiarism to a certain extent. It's a 100 per cent lift of the information that was presented to the Criminal Cases Review Commission on 5 November, 2002.

"It gave the impression that Raphael and the BBC team had come up with this new evidence completely on their own, which is not the case."

The Panorama special, Jill Dando's Murder — The New Evidence, featured forensic analysis which questioned the only piece of scientific evidence against Barry George, the man jailed for murdering Dando.

In the programme, which attracted 4.6m viewers on Tuesday night, Rowe investigated if there was new relevant evidence that should have been heard by a jury, and gained exclusive access to case documents and exhibits.

Rowe told Press Gazette: "We as investigative journalists went out there and spoke to the most crucial witnesses, explored the most crucial elements of the case –— the scientific elements of the case as well as other pieces of evidence.

"We didn't do a paper exercise investigation, we spoke to people, we got to the heart of the issues surrounding the evidence."

According to Rowe, the only issue that was raised at the Court of Appeal was identification. The issue of contamination was also mentioned, but no new evidence was brought.

He said that the jury members and other witnesses who were also important to the trial told him they had not been approached by anybody since the case was first heard.

Hale was part of the team with MOJO [Miscarriages of Justice Organisation] that had conducted a lot of work on the case long before Raphael Rowe began investigating the murder two years ago. He said: "There was no acknowledgement or reference at all to the work that we had done as a team in preparation for this."

However, Rowe argued that the capability of MOJO was overestimated.

He said: "They gave us no information that was included in the programme. The information that the organisation MOJO gave us could not be stood up."
https://pressgazette.co.uk/hale-hits-out-over-dando-special/

[Nicholas]

“BARRY George claimed he knew who killed Jill Dando in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mercury.

The former Midland stuntman was sensationally freed from a life sentence on Friday after a jury overturned his conviction for murdering the TV presenter.

But in his only interview from behind bars, George protested his innocence and told the Sunday Mercury he knew who really shot the BBC star.

‘‘Someone in the underworld was responsible for Jill Dando’s murder,” he said. ‘‘They don’t want the case re-opened.

Barry George told the Sunday Mercury he knew who killed Jill Dando in his one and only jail interview.

The former Midland stuntman was freed on Friday after an Old Bailey jury overturned his conviction for the murder of the much loved BBC TV presenter.

He spoke to award-winning former Mercury journalist Don Hale in 2002 and said he was convinced a professional hitman was to blame for the shooting – and feared he was next.

George, 48, said: “Someone in the underworld was probably responsible for Jill Dando’s murder. Now they want to keep me quiet.

‘‘I think someone wants to do me in. They don’t want the case re-opened.”

Our reporter interviewed George in Whitemoor jail, Cambridgeshire, as he served a life sentence for the murder of the Crimewatch star.

Journalist Jill, who also fronted the BBC’s Holiday programme, was shot dead on the doorstep of her Fulham home, West London, just three months after becoming engaged to Alan Farthing.

George was later jailed on mainly circumstantial evidence and had always claimed that he was at the Hammersmith & Fulham Action for Disability office at the time of the murder in April 1999.

“They let me in and I spoke with about four people there. I was there for about two hours,’’ George told the Sunday Mercury.

“The only witness (for the prosecution) said she saw me at 7am but I was still in bed. I don’t get up till 9am.

“I was wearing a bright yellow fluorescent T-shirt. People should have remembered that but some of them said I was wearing a coat.”

Police launched a huge operation after the death of the TV star, but initially had few leads.

Near-neighbour George was eventually arrested and convicted of her murder in 2001.

But the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial last year and his conviction was ruled unsafe on Friday afternoon as the original trial jury was misled about a speck of brearms discharge residue found in his coat pocket.

The residue was allegedly matched to Jill’s shooting but experts later said it could have come from another source.

Crucially, the evidence was not allowed at the retrial and the prosecution relied on sightings of a man like George near the presenter’s home.

The retrial jury of eight women and four men returned the not guilty verdict after deliberating for a day and a half.

George, who lived half a mile from Jill, reportedly said after the decision: “I am overwhelmed.”

Jurors were not told that George had convictions for rape and indecent assault, had an obsession with Jill look-alike Princess Diana and once tried to break into Kensington Palace with a dagger and rope.

The former stuntman has strong links with the Midlands. In 2001, we revealed details of his bizarre relationship with Black Country teenager Margo Bovell in the early 1980s. Calling himself Steve Majors, George used to meet Margo at Walsall College of Arts and Technology and the former Rollerdrome where the two would go skating.

George, then aged 20, cheekily chatted up Margo after spotting her in the street while she was visiting her sister in London in 1980.

The naive 17-year-old was swept off her feet and they were soon having steamy sex sessions.

But her family and friends became unnerved at George’s strange behaviour when he visited her home town of Bloxwich.

The Londoner would turn up out of the blue on roller skates – claiming he was in training for his job as a stuntman. On dates in Birmingham and Wolverhampton, he often put Margo on the bus home then showed off by zooming alongside on his skates.

As well as calling himself Steve Majors – a cross between the names of actor Lee Majors and his Bionic Man screen character Steve Austin, the Million Dollar Man – George was also known as Barry Bulsara.

This was the surname of the late rock star Freddie Mercury, who he falsely claimed to be related to.

George also called himself Paul Gadd, the real name of disgraced pop singer Gary Glitter, and he also pretended he was a British karate champion.

Then in 1982, George appeared on Margo’s doorstep dressed from head-to-toe in camouflage battle fatigues and wearing the green beret of the Royal Marine Commandos

He claimed he was on leave from the Falklands War which was raging at the time. After the incident, the couple drifted apart and Margo moved to London.

Last night, police and Crown Prosecution lawyers insisted that they were right to prosecute George and said the case will now be reviewed.

But senior detectives said it was extremely unlikely a new investigation will be launched unless further information comes to light.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/i-know-who-killed-jill-dando-233533

[Nicholas]

Barry uncle states in his book Mike’s Story - The battle to clear Barry George of the Jill Dando murder:
“On October 13th the Sunday Mirror published an exclusive article by journalist Don Hale giving an account of a special visit with Paddy Hill to see Barry. It was titled “the first prison interview” and cast very serious doubt on Barry’s ability to be the cool calculating hit man.

I thought it was a very good article, but Barry was furious as he believed he had been portrayed as a bumbling idiot. Barry can be very unforgiving so he would never let Paddy or Don visit him again.
I could appreciate how he felt even though I thought it was a very positive article.

.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ltgorwROQfwC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=don+hale+barry+george&source=bl&ots=Osy88My2fJ&sig=ACfU3U2gnjmRc1WL2Hu3HdD7GO6Rm-3Zrg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwinw4SaodjhAhVP3KQKHf4iAls4FBDoATAAegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=don%20hale%20barry%20george&f=false

[Nicholas]

Michael Burke continues:
"I thought of the allegation Michelle has made and felt a little uneasy.

.. but it made me think that what Michelle had said was not very wise. She was safely at home in Cork, while my family had to live in London, and I would be travelling over and back alone for the foreseeable future.

Relations between some members of my family became strained as most felt that as Barry was convicted and appealed we should leave it as that. But I was convinced the conviction was unsafe.

I accepted that there was a possibility that Barry was the man, but the evidence used to convict him was unconvincing.

In late October I sent a strongly worded letter to MOJO complaining about their tactics. By now the website was taking shape, and I was involved in a struggle as to what direction it should take. The webmaster Mick Lynch wanted to portray Barry as innocent but I insisted we should question the safety of the conviction, rather than call it a Miscarriage of Justice. I wanted people to judge for themselves and in the end I won out.

What tactics?

[Nicholas]

What tactics?

Tactics to publicly portray Barry George as a “bumbling idiot.”

Excerpt from Mike’s Story (Barry George’s Uncle)
“On October 13th the Sunday Mirror published an exclusive article by journalist Don Hale giving an account of a special visit with Paddy Hill to see Barry. It was titled ‘The First Prison Interview’ and cast very serious doubt on Barry’s ability to be the cool calculating hit man. I thought it was a very good article, but Barry was furious as he believed he had been portrayed as a bumbling idiot. Barry can be very unforgiving and so he would never let Paddy or Don visit him again. I could appreciate how he felt even though I thought it was a very positive article. In late October I sent a strongly worded letter to MOJO complaining about their tactics.

[Nicholas]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mikes-Story-Battle-George-murder/dp/1907163441

This paperback by Mike Burke is a true diary account of events, following the conviction of his nephew Barry George, for the murder of Jill Dando. It covers a number of years from Barry’s arrest until his eventual release, the quashing of his conviction and a retrial. It is an emotional and very personal journey and is entirely his own work.

“In early May 2000 I visited my sister Margaret in London as part of my summer holidays. Her son Barry had called to see me on the day I arrived, but had left before I got there. Later I mentioned that to one of my brothers who explained that Barry was a little uptight as he was getting a bit of hassle from the police over the Jill Dando murder. I was puzzled, why would the police be interested in him, surely he wasn’t involved? Could he have done it? ‘No no of course not, but the silly prat has been going around talking about the murder and has got the attention of the police’. A couple of days later Margaret told me that the police had recently questioned Barry in her presence and had also searched her house. I felt glad that I hadn’t been there. Barry called around in the evening before Coronation Street ended. Margaret’s lifelong friend Annie was chatting away as she does while I was engrossed in Corrie. After a time I realised that something had changed and then I realised that Annie had stopped talking. I looked over to her and was a little surprised to see her sitting in silence, which is unusual. Barry had a meal and watched a film on Channel 5, a rather nasty film about a woman who was trapped with a murderous psychotic gunman in a camper van. At one stage she managed to get hold of a gun but could not bring herself to shoot the man in the back. ‘She knows what to do but she can’t do it’ said Barry. That sent a shiver down my spine and I stole a sideways glance at him wondering for a moment would he be able to do it, was I sitting next to a murderer?

[Nicholas]

Mike Bourke:
“As we walked through the fields I wondered what I should do, it was fight or flight time. I chose fight, deciding that I would not bury my head in the sand. I would try to support Barry in the assumption that he was innocent. It was to be an unpopular decision but Barry is a relative and as deserving of my support as any other. I also knew that he would not have any great family support beyond sympathy and he would need help. I can’t say that I felt greatly sympathetic towards him in an emotional way though for a time I would wake up early in the morning trying to make sense of it all.

In early ’83 his mother told me that he was in prison on remand. At his trial in the Old Bailey he pleaded guilty to a serious offence in February 1982 and got thirty months in prison. As Barry is once again trying to get on with his life I have decided not to go into the details which have received much press coverage but I do recall reading in a newspaper at the time that he initially denied it but that the detective tripped him up by asking him if he spoke any German. Barry replied ‘Ich Verstain’, (I understand). It appears that he used the same expression to the unfortunate victim who was a student studying German. So it would seem that a clever detective had no trouble in tripping him up and getting to the truth. He served his time in Wormwood Scrubbs, Brixton and Grendon Underwood prisons. I visited him a couple of times along with his mother and Eddie. He was free again by Christmas 1984 and he seemed to settle down after that. He never spoke to me about the crime and I never asked but I read her own account in 2001 following his conviction for Jill Dando’s murder, and again in 2008 when she wrote that she doubted if Barry was a killer.

[Nicholas]

The man accused of murdering Jill Dando told staff at a health centre that he was worried because he looked like the prime suspect and had been intimidated by the police on another occasion, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

Barry George, 41, went to Hammersmith and Fulham Action for Disability (Hafad) on the day Ms Dando died in April 1999 and returned there two days later. On the first occasion, he turned up at the centre without an appointment and seemed highly agitated, the jury was told.

Elaine Hutton, the finance director of Hafad, said she had listened to parts of a conversation between George and her colleague Susan Bicknell at the office, in Greswell Street, Fulham, west London.

"I was not listening to the exact wording of the conversation between them. He was quite agitated. I was aware I might need to step in and help," said Ms Hutton.

She said George had a carrier bag of letters expressing dissatisfaction for some of the services he had received from the medical profession in general. She said her colleague had tried to stay calm and focused. She could not deal with him that day and was eventually able to placate him.

George was given an appointment for the following day, but then failed to show. However, he appeared on Wednesday April 28, two days after Ms Dando was shot.

"He said he had... gone to lay flowers at Jill's place on behalf of the church and that she was well respected in the borough," said Ms Hutton.

She said George had wanted to know the exact time of his visit to Hafad on the day Ms Dando had died. She had been unsure of the time but George had pressed her to be specific and was unhappy with her estimate. He had been agitated, saying the description of the Dando suspect matched him but that "it could be anyone".

Mrs Bicknell said George had been to the centre at 11.50am on the day Ms Dando died, 20 minutes after the shooting.

The prosecution allege that George shot Ms Dando, then changed his clothes and went to Hafad to establish an alibi. He has denied murder.

Julia Moorhouse, another witness, told the court about a chance encounter with a man that the prosecution allege was George.

Mrs Moorhouse said she had been standing on the corner of a street close to the murder scene at 12.30pm on April 26 when a man approached and started talking to her about the helicopters hovering overhead. "He said they were police helicopters. He gave details of what kind they were. He appeared to have technical knowledge... I turned to go. He came with me. I did not expect that.

"The whole situation struck me as slightly odd. He mentioned the Territorial Army. I think he may have said he had done training or was associated with it... either as an instructor or something."

The prosecution has alleged that George was obsessed with the army and weapons.

Michael Mansfield, QC, defending, said the man Mrs Moorhouse had spoken to was not George.

The trial continues. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/may/15/broadcasting.jilldando

[Nicholas]

Mike Bourke: Excerpts taken from the book - Mike’s Story The battle to clear Barry George of the Jill Dando murder.
“The Crown’s skeleton case was that Barry George was seen hanging around Jill Dando’s Gowan Avenue house on the morning of her murder. That he shot her shortly after 11.30 and then in order to remove the gun and any blood evidence he returned to his home a mere 600 yards away. He then changed his clothes and made his way to HAFAD, stopping to talk to a woman Julia Moorhouse, at about 12.30. He also made a mobile phone call to his service provider at 12.32. It was claimed that a blurred yellow figure caught on CCTV at 12.48 was Barry as he passed Fulham football ground on the way to the HAFAD disability advice centre, where he stopped briefly before going on to the Traffic Cars minicab office arriving there at about 13.00. He then managed to get a free cab ride at 13.15. It was claimed that Barry’s visits to HAFAD and Traffic Cars was to seek sanctuary and to create a false alibi. It was also claimed that when questioned he lied to police about his movements on the morning of the murder, that a witness identified him in Gowan Avenue prior to the murder, and that firearms discharge residue (FDR) was found in an inside pocket of a coat which he said he could have been wearing on the day of the murder.

The four main points on which the prosecution based its case were the alleged false alibi, lies told to police during questioning, the FDR, and witness identification. The defence claimed that nobody saw Barry hanging around Gowan Avenue in the half hour prior to the murder. No one identified him at the scene of the crime at the time of the crime. He could not have done the crime as he would not have had time to go home and change his clothes, having committed the crime at 11.30 and be at HAFAD at 11.50 or 12 noon. He did not possess a gun and had no access to weapons. His flat was filthy and there was no sign of any recent cleaning, for example no areas of the carpet seemed to have been cleaned.

Susan Coombe lived at an address which Barry also lived at in 1985. She described how he had replica guns which he showed to people. But she also said that there was a silver gun which he kept concealed in a shoebox. She claimed that he admitted to her that he followed women to see if they were single. Susan also confirmed that the photo of the man posing with the gun and gasmask was taken inside Barry’s home.

Richard Hughes worked from home trading in Far East stocks and shares using his home computer. He lived in the house next to Jill Dando’s. He was upstairs about to take a shower when he heard Jill’s car alarm zap and her footsteps as she walked to her door. He described her scream which he likened to somebody being surprised by someone they knew, rather than a cry of alarm. He then heard Jill’s gate clink shut and he looked out the window to see a man calmly leaving. He got a look at the side of the man’s face. The man was holding something in his hand, maybe a mobile phone, or it could have been a gun. Richard finished his shower and shortly afterwards hearing women’s voices he went downstairs and saw Jill slumped at her doorstep. Richard did not identify anybody at the live I.D. parade.

The man seen by witnesses was described as Mediterranean in appearance, dark haired with heavy eyebrows, late 30s or early 40s, approx five foot ten, stocky. There were variations in descriptions of height and skin but on the face of it there appeared to be a general consensus. I became very uneasy as I felt that the descriptions of the man described could have fitted Barry.

On Friday he was ill allegedly as a result of mistreatment by prison officers in the courts holding room. That caused long delays, to the frustration of Mr Justice Gage, who wanted to move things along. As Pownall was leaving the room during the lengthy delay he passed a private remark ‘matron is with the beleaguered’. Michelle was furious and I had to persuade her not to challenge Pownall. I was afraid we might be forced up into the public gallery if there was a scene, and the press would have loved it. But I can appreciate her anger at the pompous comment. Doctor Susan Young was surprised at Barry’s apparent mistreatment.

For the rest of May I followed the case on the news and in phone calls to Michelle who attended court every day. Barry was ill at times, suffering various ailments including apparent blindness which caused amusement amongst the press reporters who believed that he was faking. I found it hard to believe also until some years later when I experienced a nasty migraine attack which gave me an incredible fright thinking I was going blind. So perhaps his attack was genuine brought on by stress.

Barry was portrayed as a man who was familiar with firearms. He had been with the Territorial Army, had attempted to join a gun-club, and he had written details of handguns including a Bruni in his flat. The police had found advertisements in his flat for deactivated weapons showing where they could be bought but there was no evidence that he had the tools or skills to alter guns. A photograph of him wearing a gasmask and holding a handgun, finger on trigger was found by police. There was a break in the gun exposing a spring. That was said to show that he had an interest in altering guns. Barry denied during police questioning that it was him in the photograph, and claimed the gun; a blank firing replica was stolen by his friend David Dobbins. In evidence David Dobbins described an incident where Barry discharged a blank firing pistol at David’s mother’s house, frightening him. David admitted that following his frightening experience he chatted with Barry, his friend, for about an hour.

When searching Barry’s flat on 17 April 2000 Police Constable Cain had found a coat and handed it to Detective Constable Isaacs who sealed it in an exhibits bag and it was sent to a police station. Both officers gave evidence of the precautions they had taken in relation to the surgical gloves and clothing worn by them. On 24 April the coat was taken to Amelia Street Police Photographic Studio where it was removed from the sealed bag and photographed. On May 2 it was taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory. There Mr Robin Keeley, a Senior Forensic Officer specialising in FDR examined the coat. In an inside pocket he found a single particle of firearms discharge residue, 11.5 microns in size. Two FDR particles which matched each other had also been found on Jill Dando’s hair and raincoat. Keeley compared those particles with the one found in Barry’s coat and they matched. Tests were carried out to exclude other sources for the particle. In evidence Keeley said that the particle could have come from the ammunition which had killed Jill Dando or from similar ammunition. The residue would remain in a pocket indefinitely, unless the garment was disturbed. The residue would not decay evaporate or dissolve. He was asked if it was significant that only one particle was found. He replied that there was no significance; it just meant that firearms residue was present. It would identify where it came from but not how it got there.

The overall impression given was that the FDR came from the same gun which killed Jill. The only question seemed to be how it got to be in Barry’s coat pocket. That evidence would take up to three days as Mansfield grilled the police and scientists.

On the day of the murder Barry visited the Hammersmith and Fulham Advice centre, or HAFAD. He also called to a taxi cab office where he managed to cadge a free trip to the Rickett Street Colon Cancer Clinic. Two days later he re-visited HAFAD and the taxi office, asking staff to recall what he had been wearing on the previous visit. That strange behaviour was reported to the police. Barry at first told the police he did not know at what time he visited HAFAD but staff put the time at or before 12.00. Barry then claimed an alibi based on those times. If he had visited at or before 12.00 he would be ruled out as the killer, as the clothes he had on then did not match the clothes seen on the fleeing man in Gowan Avenue. He would not have had time to kill Jill at 11.30 and return home to change and still arrive at HAFAD for 12.00. Under cross examination some of the staff revised their estimate of the time of Barry’s visit but one, Susan Bicknell, was absolutely adamant that he had been there at 12.00. To counteract the HAFAD alibi the police produced Julia Moorhouse who had reported being spoken to by a man matching Barry’s description at about 12.30 on the day of the crime. Ms Moorhouse was not asked to attend an I.D. parade.

I was back at the Old Bailey on Wednesday 13th at 11.00 and I recorded it in my diary as a boring day. By now I would travel from Margaret’s alone, ahead of Michelle as I liked to get in early before the cameramen were alert. I noticed that Michelle was by now quite blasé about them but I never liked their attention.

Pownall began his closing address to the jury on Wednesday, after Mr Justice Gage ruled that the case no longer depended on the single particle of FDR residue but that it could provide support for the identification. The goalposts seemed to have been changed in the middle of the match and I thought that was very unfair. The particle was the ‘compelling evidence’ and it had formed one of the three main planks on which the case rested. I.e. witness identification, the single particle, and at what time Barry visited HAFAD on the day of the murder. It would now merely assist the jury in reaching their decision.

[Nicholas]

“After the Clonakilty affair the unity amongst Barry’s family supporters was fragmented and Michelle and I followed our independent paths for the rest of his incarceration and beyond. Michelle stayed within the MOJO camp which she found to be a source of help and support, and me outside but still in touch. After Barry’s conviction we were not in a position to visit him for some time and he did not contact us. I would write to him but he never replied. I had used up most of my holidays and quite a bit of special unpaid leave. Michelle had spent the whole of the trial away from her family while she attended court, and Margaret was not in a position to make the trip alone. I do not know at first-hand how he dealt with his conviction.

In his PRISON DIARY Jeffrey Archer records on Friday 20 July seeing a prisoner on exercise that looked totally lost. A fellow prisoner Gordon told Archer that it was Barry George. ‘No one in here believes he did it, including the screws’ Gordon said. Archer revealed that while his own trial was in progress he was surprised that so many senior lawyers and laymen told him that they were disturbed by the verdict. Later a prison officer revealed to Archer that he didn’t believe that Barry had shot Jill Dando. ‘He’s just too stupid’ the officer said. A prisoner called Pat told Archer how a year earlier Barry had fallen over while running in the prison sports day. Pat described Barry as a bit of a pervert but believed that he was not a murderer.

Belmarsh is a holding prison for prisoners awaiting trial so shortly after his conviction Barry was moved to HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire. We were relieved that he was not moved too far away from London. During August it was reported that David Dobbins, a friend of Barry’s who became a prosecution witness had hanged himself, preceded by his brother. I was told that David was depressed but I do not know if his giving evidence against Barry contributed to his unfortunate death. Finally on September 2nd a visiting order arrived.

A witness in the Jill Dando trial who gave important evidence against Barry George, the man convicted of the murder of the television presenter, has been found hanged at his home, it emerged yesterday.

August 2001
“David Dobbins, 30, was discovered by a relative on Thursday at his flat in Fulham, south-west London. It is understood he had been suffering from depression.

He had given evidence which showed that George was a fantasist who owned weapons which he liked to show to local children. During tense moments at the Old Bailey, he told the court how George had stormed into his home one evening dressed in combat gear and then fired at the ceiling with a pistol.

Mr Dobbins befriended George in the mid-1980s when they lived in the Stanhope Gardens Hotel, a bed and breakfast hostel in Kensington, west London. At the time Mr Dobbins was 13. George had just been released from prison after a conviction for attempted rape.

Mr Dobbins had told the trial that he knew George as Thomas Palmer, the name of an SAS soldier involved in the rescue of hostages from the Iranian embassy siege of 1980.

He told the jury that George owned an imitation Heckler and Koch MP5 machine gun, and a blank-firing handgun, as well as "a few knives".

Mr Dobbins's family moved to another address in 1986, but George continued to see them. Mr Dobbins had recalled how he heard a noise outside the basement flat and opened the door to investigate. "I saw Mr Palmer. He pushed his way in with a handgun and he discharged a shot. It was pretty scary. It was like he was trying to frighten us."

George was wearing a combat jacket, military belt and jeans, and put the gun into his belt after he fired it. The prosecution case relied on evidence that George, 41, was "obsessed" with guns and the military.

Police do not believe there are suspicious circumstances to Mr Dobbins's death, but an inquest will be held at West London coroner's court.

Scotland Yard confirmed yesterday that a body was found in a Fulham flat last week. "We are not prepared to say any more at this stage," a spokesman said.

George is appealing against his conviction.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/aug/21/broadcasting.jilldando

[Nicholas]

Mike’s Story The battle to clear Barry George of the Jill Dando murder.
“Appeal 2002 One day in early July an angry Paddy Hill told me that he was finished supporting Barry, but later Moneypenny phoned to say that MOJO would still support him. I returned to work on the 5th and within the first ten minutes my vehicle lights were broken by Hurley wielding thugs. It was back to normal for me on the mean streets of Limerick. The following day Margaret told me that Barry wanted a suit for his appeal. But it was too late as the appeal was just a week away. He had to wear the clothes Margaret and Michelle provided, and he was rather cruelly described by the press as being dressed like a schoolboy.


Excerpt from Michelle Diskin Bates book Stand Against Injustice
“Before Mum’s breakdown, we had discussed buying a new outfit for Barry to deflect further misinformation being spread by unscrupulous journalists. These people exhibited absolutely no compassion for all those caught in the crossfire. Our family were terribly offended by the suggestion that Barry was some kind of oddity or vagabond. And anyway, how did this image sit with the description given of a well-dressed man seen in Gowan Avenue around the time that Jill was killed? It seemed the police wanted it both ways, and were suggesting that this criminal mastermind dressed like a tramp most of the time, but when he wanted to kill somebody, he put on his best bib and tucker and his woollen greatcoat to carry out the crime! With the thirty pounds I had left, I needed to buy food, rail travel to and from the prison, my flight back home, and also Barry’s court suit and shoes. In short, impossible. It was definitely time for prayer. Putting the banknotes on a table, I turned my attention to my Saviour, Jesus. Dear Lord Jesus, First, I come to you in praise and thanksgiving for all of the blessings you bestow upon me. I know you will always provide for my needs. I know, too, that you know the difficulties I’m facing here and I ask for your help to make the right choices. If I buy the clothes for Barry, I won’t be able to buy him shoes or buy food for myself. If I keep the money for food and train fares, I can’t dress Barry for court or buy my flight home. I can’t solve this predicament by myself, but I know you can. There is nothing you can’t do. I put my trust firmly in you. Please, Lord, give me your wisdom and guidance.

The £ 30 I had trustingly spent on Barry was returned to me fourfold! Now, not only could I get home to my family, but I could buy a small gift for my best friend and great supporter, Marianne. I would also be able to buy some of those little chocolates that the children loved so much, and for Pat, a large box of Jelly Babies, his favourite. Thirty pounds, four times over. When God provides, He does so in abundance. This was no set of coincidences, this was an example of God-incidences. ‘He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free.’ (Psalm 146: 7)

[Nicholas]

“Later in the evening we had a drink with David Perrin and James Cohen. We managed to persuade Michelle not to take part in a late night talk radio show. David threw an example of a question she might face if she took part. ‘Michelle, do you accept that a rapist can graduate to murder?’ That decided the matter for Michelle and she took Margaret home. Later I became a little disturbed by something that James said. He asked me what I thought of the madness in the family.

“On Tuesday November 5th I was tempted to run from East Acton station to Margaret’s as rockets and bangers exploded all around the place. It was Guy Fawkes Day, and it felt like a battle zone. Michelle was in Birmingham with MOJO presenting their submission to the CCRC. Margaret and I met her in HMP Whitemoor the next day. Barry was very upset with Michelle because of press reports and the CCRC submission. He said that it should have been left to his solicitor to make the submission, and he feared that his prospects might now have been damaged. He said that he thought the visit by Don Hale and Paddy Hill was a private visit and he felt betrayed that it had been reported. It was a difficult visit where Barry threatened to have Michelle jailed if she did not respect his views. He no longer wanted MOJO to be involved in his situation. In time he would threaten to have us all jailed, which probably was a reflection of his frustration at not being in control of the things which concerned him.

That evening I met David Perrin in a Shepherds Bush pub where we had a nice pint of Guinness. We discussed the website and he gave me some advice on that saying that I should look at Susan May’s website. He then said that Barry’s supporters seemed to be fragmented, and suggested that it would be more effective if there was a combined united push for Barry. Good advice I thought. On Thursday Michelle and Margaret took Sheba the cat to the vet, as she had a sore mouth. In the evening I told Michelle about the planned website, and about David’s suggestion of a united front. She did not seem to be very interested. Later Hazel Keirle from MOJO phoned Michelle to make arrangements for Michelle’s next TV appearance, on SKY News. Michelle wanted them to show the videotape which I had loaned her, showing the man who was supposed to be Barry at Princess Diana’s vigil. She wanted to show how inaccurate identification can be.

I went to London on December 12 and met Pat Reynolds, the IBRG Chairman, at Margaret’s house. We discussed a campaign plan, and agreed to think things over. Pat then spoke to Michelle on the phone, but she was now tied up with MOJO and told Pat that Barry already had their support. The campaign was hampered from the word go but I was determined to push ahead and managed to persuade Pat to remain on board. Margaret and I made our Christmas

[Nicholas]

but it was a clean, quick execution.

Mere speculation!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-46217/Jills-death-instant.html

 

[Nicholas]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-46217/Jills-death-instant.html

“Taxi firm manager Ramesh Paul told the court that two days after Miss Dando's murder George came into his cab office and started talking about the killing.

"He was talking to himself and to me, saying he did not want the blame," said Mr Paul, who added: "I came to the conclusion he was in his own world."

He told the jury that on the day of the murder the same man had arrived at 1pm and asked him for a cab but said he had no money.

"I laughed - it is not me, it's the drivers, £4 is like £400 to them," Mr Paul said.

The man stayed in the waiting area looking out of the window, he said, adding: "He seemed in a bit of a hurry to go somewhere but he had no money to go there."

By a stroke of luck, Mr Paul said he received a call asking for a package to be collected from near where the customer wanted to go and told a driver to take him on the journey for free.

He saw the man again a day or two later, Mr Paul said, adding: "He came into the office. I was talking on the phone. He was asking stupid questions.

"He asked me if I remembered him, what time he came here, what he looked like, what he was wearing. I asked if I should remember. He said Yes. He was adamant."

Mr Paul said he remembered the fare and told him 1.15pm. The man asked if he could remember what he was wearing on April 26.

"When I could not remember, he started giving me colours. He told me to look up at the sky. I said blue. He said no, that was the wrong colour. Look up again.

"He kept going on about the colour of his shirt and asking what colour was the sun. I said orange or red he still said no, look again."

When Mr Paul said yellow, the man said "Yes".

Mr Paul said the man wanted him to write down the time he was at the cab office on the 26th on a card.

"I rarely do that but I was interested in answering the phone at this stage so I wrote down details and passed it through the glass," he said.

"He looked happy that I remembered the yellow shirt. He went to shake my hand but could not through the glass."

The trial was adjourned until tomorrow

[Nicholas]

Excerpt’s taken from Mike’s Story The battle to clear Barry George of the Jill Dando murder
“Sunday was rather wet and windy. In the morning I met David James Smith in Mario’s café in East Acton. We had a good chat and David shared many of my doubts surrounding Barry’s conviction. However he felt that Barry was guilty as he had spoken with Hamish Campbell and found him to be convincing.

“The Case of Barry George by Scott Lomax was published on the 27th, and he sent me a signed copy. He argued the case for Barry’s innocence well and I thought it was a very positive development. The book had a photo of Barry on the cover which I had lent to Scott with permission to use. On June 26th the Daily Express did a two page spread on Scott’s book. A couple of days later Michelle featured in an Irish evening paper, and appeared to dismiss the value of Scott’s book, saying that a book would not get Barry out. I was disappointed at the dismissal of what was a very well argued case by a young writer who was supportive of Barry, who needed all the support he could get.

“On September 5th I read an e-mail from Scott Lomax telling me about a BBC reporter, Raphael Rowe, who hoped to make a programme about Barry. I made some discreet enquiries and I was told that ‘He is a good guy, genuine’. I was happy with that recommendation and decided to contact him. I phoned him the next day and we had a good long chat. He was quite up to speed having looked at the websites and appeal court links. I agreed to contact Barry and his solicitor to see if they might cooperate with a TV programme. I later spoke to Pat Reynolds who was very enthusiastic when I mentioned Panorama, saying that Panorama could be seen as a turning point, the beginning of the end. I next visited Barry on Friday October 8th. I was suffering from a heavy cold, and family tensions were again running high, otherwise the visit went ok. On the way back to East Acton I saw on the headlines that the hostage Ken Bigley had been killed in Iraq. I got fish and chips and had quiet a miserable evening. ‘Why the hell am I doing this?’ I wondered, not for the first time.

“That evening I met David James Smith at Starbucks in Hammersmith, where we discussed aspects of Jill Dando’s murder which concerned me. David believed that I was on the wrong track but I was convinced that more people could have known of Jill’s intention to visit her house on the day of her murder than we were led to believe. I also wondered how many people might have had keys to her house.