Barry George

[Satch]

Alternate theories abound, some more credible than others, but got to say that the actual evidence against him for the murder of Jill Dando does look shockingly thin.

More than a faint whiff of a case constructed against a nutter because of huge pressure for a result?

 

[glojo]

*** has stated that perhaps we are harsh on one section of society and more protective to-wards another.

I have given that statement a lot of thought and hand on heart..............

Guilty as charged

I have regularly expressed my contempt for certain sections of the media. I have said it time and time again and will probably carry on voicing my personal opinion regarding these folks who I sometimes call vultures, parasites, writers of fiction, or whatever description I feel fits the story.

How many times do we see a grieving husband\wife having queue's of these vultures all waiting to ram a microphone into the grieving person's face to get a quote? How many times do we see photographers taking pictures of angry crowds (which they may well have incited) I have had years of experience in dealing with these people and I have perhaps been influenced by this.

Being very serious for a moment, when Princess Diana was dying the last things she would have witnessed were the worse of the worse of these parasites, or vultures. She died with the flash of camera's in her eyes and sadly that sums up the headline grabbing attitude of the front end of our media.

Barry George
The media were not slow in condemning this person at the time of arrest. During the trial they were pushing the limits of what they could print and condemning this person.

The story changed and all of a sudden the police arrested the wrong man. All of a sudden George was a completely innocent victim and the perfect example of police incompetence.

All of a sudden the media all wanted to interview this innocent person and condemn the system that convicted this poor victimised person.

Kay Burley couldn't interview George quick enough and wanted to know what it was like being innocent and locked up for something you never did?

She is now being allegedly stalked by this person and is terrified!!! Why?? Why is she terrified of a harmless person that Kay Burley has helped make this man a star and it could be suggested George is simply infatuated by her. Instead she is terrified, fainted in front of the camera and has taken time off work because of the situation.

The man is allegedly innocent, Kay Burley has told the World he is innocent so why the worry? What will the media make of this? Will they be saying Ms Burley is making a mountain out of a mole-hill? Will the media start hounding Barry George?

Will the media step back and not get involved?

End of confession

Regards
John

 

[Howard]

Well , reading into this guys background a little bit, would we not all agree that something strange is going on in his head ?

' He has previous convictions for attempted rape and indecent assault. Mr George also tried to break into Kensington Palace to see Diana, Princess of Wales, armed with a hunting knife and a coil of rope. '

Is that something you or I would do ?

 

[st13phil]

Well , reading into this guys background a little bit, would we not all agree that something strange is going on in his head ?

While I don't think I'd disagree with that statement (based upon what I have read), I also think that

the actual evidence against him for the murder of Jill Dando does look shockingly thin.

That doesn't mean I think he did or didn't murder Jill Dando. But it does mean that I think the (reported) evidence presented and on which his conviction was based didn't stand up to the "beyond reasonable doubt" criteria that such a conviction requires. On that point, I'm with the Appeal Court. There's a clear distinction between locking someone up for something they have done, and locking them up for something they may have done, or indeed might do in the future.

 

[Howard]

Ok , fair enough ...

( Hypothetically speaking now ) Would you be happy with him working with your wife even though he is apparently innocent of JD's murder ?

 

[glojo]

Well , reading into this guys background a little bit, would we not all agree that something strange is going on in his head ?

' He has previous convictions for attempted rape and indecent assault. Mr George also tried to break into Kensington Palace to see Diana, Princess of Wales, armed with a hunting knife and a coil of rope. '

Is that something you or I would do ?

I would respectfully suggest Kay Burley might know a fair bit about this innocent victim of a miscarriage.

I personally believe he was released because a very small part of the evidence was unsafe and seriously.... I would not make light of Ms Burley's concerns but she wanted the interview, she tried befriending the man to get a story and sadly she went into this with her eyes wide open. She has possibly lit a fuse that she might find difficult to extinguish.

I find it interesting that the first place she runs to is the police!! She runs a story about police incompetance and then the very first minute she gets worried, she makes for the nearest police station.

I don't blame her, I feel she has a just cause for concern and I hope this issue gets resolved, but she MUST accept responsibility fort her actions and she should perhaps reconsider her opinion about tghis evil person.

I am not saying he commited the murder of Jill Dando, but I am saying he is not someone I would want following my family. No one should be locked away for a crime they never committed, two wrongs will never make a right. The defence of Barry George very cleverly accepted a lot of the prosecution evidence and only laid into a small section which they were able to put doubt into the minds of the court.

 

[recycled]

she may have run to the police because the law does not allow her to settle it by herself, which i am sure a lot of people would help her do if she only just asked.
personally i do not know if he did or did not, but as we have to follow the rule of law and courts, ( the same law that prevents us from smashing burglars heads in ) then we just have to accept the decision for now until more evidence comes to light.
believe me a lot of people who go to the police, may not really want to if they had an option, or if the law provided another option.

 

[Howard]

She has possibly lit a fuse that she might find difficult to extinguish.

Why's that ?

Barry George doesn't go round murdering TV presenters ..... he's an innocent man remember ....

 

[recycled]

exactly. just like the birmingham six and i would not let prescott or michael jackson work with my wife either but he has not yet killed anyone

 

[st13phil]

Ok , fair enough ...

( Hypothetically speaking now ) Would you be happy with him working with your wife even though he is apparently innocent of JD's murder ?

On the basis of what I've read (and I don't have access to either Mr George or all the evidence about him), no. But then there are many other people who are without question innocent of Jill Dando's murder that I would not be happy to have working with my wife, either.

For me, the issue is that as far as the Appeal Court are concerned there was insufficient evidence presented at the original trial for the conviction to stand against Mr George. With the time elapsed since the original investigation it's hard to see how new evidence can be collected that will change that situation. What I do know with absolute certainty is that whoever did murder Jill Dando has never been successfully convicted of that offence and, in all likelihood, never will now be convicted.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that there was some sort of "fit up" in this case in the sense of that against the Guildford bombers, but the outcome is the same: the person or persons responsible for the crime have never been caught and punished for it. It's easy to blame those responsible for the investigation, but it's hard to ignore the obvious conclusion that had they managed somehow to collect rather more evidence at the time then a conviction against Mr George or another party would, in fact, have been secure.

 

[imadoofus]

'He has previous convictions for attempted rape and indecent assault. Mr George also tried to break into Kensington Palace to see Diana, Princess of Wales, armed with a hunting knife and a coil of rope.'

Is that something you or I would do ?

Well I can't imagine Diana armed with a hunting knife and a coil of rope, so I may have been curious, yes...

Oh the fun of the split infinitive.

 

[glojo]

What I do know with absolute certainty is that whoever did murder Jill Dando has never been successfully convicted of that offence and, in all likelihood, never will now be convicted.

What I do know with absolute certainty is that whoever did murder Jill Dando was successfully convicted of that offence...... The first appeal against conviction was also dismissed, BUT.............in all likelihood, no one will now be convicted unless new evidence comes to light.

I agree with Howard's sentiments, the tongue protruding from the cheek might not be visible to some folks

I think what we are seeing and what Ms Burley is experiencing is justice, George, just like the great many before him has been released because a very small segment of a piece of evidence was bought into doubt. That's the rules of the game and it is those rules which we must all respect.

Regards
John

 

[recycled]

Am i understanding this right john? Are you saying that you can honestly say with 100% certainty that barry george killed jill dando?

even DNA is not 100% so this is a big claim.
Anyway you may have more info than i do or may be more involved in the facts than i do.

I mean this is a big claim
regards
melvyn

 

[glojo]

Am i understanding this right john? Are you saying that you can honestly say with 100% certainty that barry george killed jill dando?

No........

I am saying that at the first trial this person was found guilty, unless you know different?

We are all aware of the outcome, we all accept that he is a free man and we all must accept the final decision of the courts.

I certainly do.

Regards
John

 

[recycled]

No........

I am saying that at the first trial this person was found guilty, unless you know different?

Regards
John

Oh alright. That is correct yes but were there not grounds for miscarriage of justice?
I am not too sure about the original facts anyway


melvyn

 

[glojo]

Oh alright. That is correct yes but were there not grounds for miscarriage of justice?
I am not too sure about the original facts anyway


melvyn

The case went to appeal, the appeal was dismissd and the sentence upheld. It eventually went to the Criminal Review Commission who I believe ordered\recommended it go back to the Courts of Appeal.

So yes he was succuessfully convicted of the crime but YES he is now a free man. I have no problems with our judicial system, it is not perfect but I very much doubt that anything is?

John

 

[RoseTattoo]

We do not have a perfect legal system but it is at the root of our democracy and the requirements to run trials in certain ways, collect evidence and present it in the correct manner ensures on teh whole that innocent people are not found guilty of crimes that they did not commit. This is a problem in any system and has led to people being hanged and incarcerated only to be found incontrovertibly not guilty. The risk in this is that some guilty people go free but that is the benfit and price of freedom in our society.
I really am most uncomfortable with non expert specualtion on these subjects especially in high profile crimes as the generation of popular opinion does have an influence and does bring pressure to bear.

 

[verytalldave]

My gut feeling is that he should still be inside.

Standing by for flaming...............

 

[recycled]

so should all the other murderers who got life and have been released for proven cases without doubt, unlike this unproven case

 

[Alfie]

As with many successful appeals they serve to simply quash the original conviction. They do not though prove that the person or persons were innocent, simply that the methods and evidence were not enough in this day and age.