RETRIAL ORDERED AFTER DOUBTS OVER GUN RESIDUE EVIDENCE
The Court of Appeal has ordered a retrial after quashing the conviction of Barry George for the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando.
The new appeal centred on fresh scientific evidence relating to a single
microscopic speck of firearm discharge residue found in George's coat
after his arrest a year after the shooting.
The latest proceedings follow a decision by the Criminal Cases Review
Commission (CCRC), an independent body which investigates possible
miscarriages of justice, to refer George's case back to the Court of
Appeal.
Legal argument centred on fresh doubts about evidence relating to a
microscopic speck of firearm discharge residue (FDR) found in the pocket
lining of George's coat, which was seized after his arrest a year after
the shooting.
George has always denied murdering Jill Dando.
During the appeal, his QC, William Clegg, told the panel of three judges, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, Lord Justice Leveson and Mr Justice Simon, that the firearm discharge residue was "inconclusive" and could offer no assistance to a jury in assessing guilt.
Mr Clegg referred to a Forensic Science Service report which, he said, concluded
last year that "it would be just as likely that a single particle of
discharge residue would have been recovered from the pocket of Mr
George's coat whether or not he was the person who shot Miss Dando
nearly a year previously".
George's case in the appeal was that too much weight was placed on the significance of what Mr Clegg described as "neutral" evidence at trial.
Delivering the appeal verdict, Lord Phillips said : "It is impossible to know what weight, if any, the jury attached to the FDR evidence." He added "It is equally impossible to know what verdict they would have reached had they been told as we were told, by the witnesses who gave evidence before us, that it was just as likely that the single particle of FDR came from some extraneous source as it was that it came from a gun fired by the appellant."
Reading out a summary of the court's decision, Lord Phillips said: "The
prosecution called expert witnesses at the trial whose evidence
suggested that it was likely that the particle of FDR came from a gun
fired by Barry George rather than from some other source.
"Those witnesses and other witnesses from the Forensic Science Service
told the Court of Appeal that this was not the right conclusion to draw
from the discovery of the particle of FDR.
"It was, in fact, no more likely that the particle had come from a gun
fired by Barry George than that it had come from some other source.
"The Court of Appeal concluded that, if this evidence had been given to
the jury at the trial, there is no certainty that they would have found
Barry George guilty.
"For this reason his conviction had to be quashed."
It is understood that George is to be rearraigned on a fresh indictment on the charge of murder within the next two months.