Man wrongly convicted of killing Jill Dando fears cops will try to 'fit him up'
It is 15 years since Barry George was released from jail after his conviction for the murder of Jill Dando was overturned, but even now he feels his “full liberty” is denied him.
He spent eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit, but received no compensation, and the Met Police have still to find the real killer, meaning people still point the finger at him. Now he has taken part in the Netflix documentary Who Killed Jill Dando?, hoping it will help clear his name. Barry, 63, told the Mirror: “The end game is I want to show, publicly, that there’s no way I could have done this.”
Asked if he felt free, he paused, and said: “Not when I feel like I’m having to look over my shoulder all the time in case there are people following me about, or police forces potentially trying to fit me up for something else. In that sense, I don’t feel free. To be outside a prison wall, yes I feel free, to a certain degree.
Jill Dando was shot outside her home in West London in April 1999 (PA)
Barry George spent eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit (PA)"I’ve got some liberty back, but not my full liberty. I’ve been found unanimously not guilty through appeal, and I’ve been released. I rise to the challenge, because if I don’t then there are many people out there who would walk over me.”
Barry and his family are still haunted by what they insist was a police witch hunt against the “local strange person” – he has Asperger’s, frontal lobe brain damage, ADHD, learning difficulties, epilepsy and is diabetic.
Netflix announces Jill Dando documentary 20 years after tragic shooting
Barry George received no compensation (Philip Coburn)Barry said: “I have my difficulties, but I don’t let that get in the way of defending myself.” Popular TV presenter Jill was 37 when she was killed on her doorstep in Fulham, west London, in April 1999.
At Barry’s original trial, the jury heard that the assailant held Jill with his right arm and forced her to the ground, then, with his left hand, fired a single shot, killing her instantly.
Barry’s sister Michelle Bates, 68, said: “For the avoidance of doubt, Barry is right handed.” Michelle, a justice campaigner and author of Stand Against Injustice, also speaks in the three-part Netflix documentary. Barry, who lived close to Jill, was convicted by a 10-1 majority in 2001 largely due to a particle of gunpowder found in his pocket. In the 2008 re-trial, that particle was found to be so small that it was inadmissible as evidence.
Now living in Ireland, Barry says he was followed by police in London after his release in 2008 and is still taunted over his wrongful conviction.
Michelle, a long-standing justice campaigner and author of Stand Against Injustice, said: “It’s almost 25 years since Jill was killed and he’s still haunted by this injustice. It’s been 23 years of trauma and my children have had to grow up with this in the middle of our lives. Our family needs justice and we need justice for Jill. That’s just as important to us.”
Talking about the documentary, she said: “We have no control over the programme content, but we really hope the truth becomes clear and, better still, would be if the case was reopened. There’s not been an active investigation since Barry was convicted, so it’s just another way of keeping the spotlight on Barry.” Barry’s “muddled life” had made him a suspect for the police.
She said: “Yet calls to the BBC claiming responsibility were somehow lost in the system”.
Documents submitted to a Paris court last year suggested Jill may have been killed by mistake by a hitman hired by fashion mogul Gerald Marie to kill another BBC journalist, Lisa Brinkworth, after she went undercover to expose his agency.
Barry’s defence team said the murder was carried out by a Serbian hitman in retaliation for a NATO strike on a Serbian TV station that killed 17 staff.
After Jill’s murder, BBC staff received calls citing the murder as revenge. Michelle said: “Police still try to say Barry was the only suspect to deflect from their own poor investigation. Why would they spend so much time chasing a vulnerable, innocent man? They did not expect him to fight back, but he did and they were left with egg on their faces and so they want the world to think he’s guilty.
Jill Dando's brother hopes Netflix series will find killer after years of pain
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: " The investigation into the murder of Ms Dando was moved to an inactive phase in 2014. The decision was taken by a case closure panel.
"While the case has not been formally reopened and is therefore not subject to routine reviews, detectives would consider any new information provided to the Met to determine whether it represented a new and realistic line of enquiry."
- Who Killed Jill Dando? will be released on Netflix on September 26
- The book 'Stand Against Injustice: The untold story of the family of Barry George, wrongly convicted for the murder of Jill Dando' is available to buy to read now
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
