“You have deprived Miss Dando’s fiancé, family and friends of a much loved and popular personality,” Mr Justice Gage said to the defendant Barry George after a jury returned a 10-1 majority guilty verdict against the loner on Monday afternoon. “You are unpredictable and dangerous… There can be no doubt that it was premeditated involving some planning… Why you did it will never be known.”
Jill’s family and friends were content with the outcome of the trial. “I’m content with today’s verdict and I have nothing but praise for the jury,” said Nigel Dando, the late presenter’s brother.
“We all hope that the trial acts as some kind of milestone for each of us in coming to terms with the enormous loss of Jill,” said her former fiancé, Alan Farthing.
The 41-year-old George began a mandatory life sentence on Wednesday, though his solicitor Marilyn Etienne confirmed she would be planning an appeal. “Justice was not seen today,” she said.
After George was found guilty, Angus Campbell, the officer in charge of the investigation, took the witness stand to read out George’s previous convictions for indecent assault and attempted rape. It was well-known that the unemployed “oddball” who hated women had a low IQ, a history of psychological problems, and a love of guns. When police searched his flat, they found copies of Ariel, the BBC’s in-house publication, that had been published after the Crimewatch presenter’s death.
George was convicted on the basis of a mixture of circumstantial, forensic and eyewitness evidence, although thrice during the trial he was asked if he had killed Jill Dando and thrice he replied: “No sir.” A speck of residue from the gun used to kill Jill was found in his coat pocket, and a strand of fibre that matched his trousers was found at the scene of the crime, and several eyewitnesses placed him in the vicinity on the day of the murder.
George had also previously been arrested outside Kensington Palace in 1983, dressed in combat gear and armed with a pair of knives. He was said to be obsessed with the late Princess Di, and may have planned an assault on her. Some say his murdering Jill – a Di lookalike – was somehow a quest to create a national drama not unlike the death of Diana.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
