Murder
UKis a site
dedicated to documenting and investigating
murder in the UK. We aim to be precise with
facts and avoid speculation. If however you find
discrepancies please
Contact
us
26th April 1999 Jill Dando left the home of her fiancé,
Dr. Alan Farthing, and returned to her own house in Gowan
Avenue, Fulham, West London.
As she reached her front door at about 11:30am, she was shot
once in the head
Her body was discovered shortly after by a friend, Dando was taken to Charing Cross Hospital where she
was declared dead on arrival at 1:03pm. She was just 37
years old.
The murder investigation by the Police – named Operation
Oxborough – lasted for well over a year.
Dando's status as a well known public figure brought her
into contact with thousands of people, there was fevered
press speculation about the motive for her killing,
With little progress after a year, a case review highlighted
a suspect who had been overlooked, the police focused on the
odd behaviour of a man who lived around half-a-mile from
Dando's home. After a period of police surveillance, police
arrested Barry George for her murder.
2nd July 2001, George was found guilty of murder in a
trial at the Old Bailey, and was sentenced on to life
imprisonment.
November 2007, Barry George successfully appealed his
conviction and was held in custody in Whitemoor Prison,
pending retrial in 2008.
2002, the Court of Appeal's judgment on the appeal,
having addressed a number of grounds including eyewitness
testimony, scientific evidence and the role of the trial
judge, concluded that the verdict of the jury was not unsafe
and the appeal was dismissed.
March 2006, Barry George's lawyers sought an appeal on fresh
evidence based on medical examinations suggesting he was not
capable of committing the crime because of his mental
disabilities, and that the circumstances surrounding the
original arrest were inaccurate.
September 2006, following investigations by George's
campaigners and a BBC-TV Panorama documentary about the
conviction, broadcast in the UK on 5th September 2006 and
which included an interview with the foreman of the jury at
the original trial, fresh evidence was submitted to the
Criminal Cases Review Commission by the programme-makers and
by Barry George's solicitor.
The evidence was concerned with scientific analysis of the
alleged gunshot residue, eyewitness evidence, and
psychiatric reports.
20th June 2007, the Criminal Cases Review Commission
announced that it would refer George's case to the Court of
Appeal.
5th November 2007 Trial begins,. One of the defence
team's main grounds of appeal was that the single particle
of gunshot residue in George's coat pocket was not evidence
which conclusively linked George to the crime scene; it
could have appeared as a result of contamination of the coat
when it was placed on a mannequin to be photographed as
police evidence.
7th November 2007 the Court of Appeal reserved
judgement in the case and on; 15th November 2007 it was announced that the appeal
was allowed and the conviction quashed.
14th December 2007, Barry George appeared before the
old Bailey, and as in the original trial pleaded not guilty
to the murder of Jill Dando.
9th June 2008, new trial starts
Friday 1st August 2008, Barry George was found not
guilty ands was acquitted of all charges. He was released an
innocent man.
