coolangatta

I remember having a heated argument with my Dad when he was arrested.
'They've just picked up the local nutter!', I protested.
Well, it was obvious to me that the cops had done a sweep of the area loons and picked on the easiest target, so why not the original jury

DCI Gene Hunt

The immortal comment from Mr George "I couldn't of killed her on that day as I was busy stalking another female" should count towards any future financial compensation payment....

David Lock

It's when you get the statement - "The police spokesperson said, we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident" that you begin to think........ dl

coolangatta

Evidence Gentlemen, please

lordretsudo

One thing's for sure, I wouldn't want to live next door to him...

Abdabz

As with the thread I started on the day of the accouncement of his innocence, I completely agree with coolangatta.
Of all the gangs, criminals, crooks, ne'er do wells, scumbags, smackheads and nutters that Crimewatch had pissed off over the years, the most likely dude to pull the trigger was a the local weirdo
Then, when the evidence was presented, almost everything in it demonstrated no possible guilt except some ballistic evidence which was nothing more than circumstantial.
The jury who clearly had a combined IQ lower than that of Barry George on his own made a howler of a decision.

I am gutted that the poor fella has had to endure 7 years at her majesties "Leisure" for a crime he did not commit. You can be certain that a simple bloke put in for a high profile crime will have suffered more than most in the big house.

Whatever he was allegedly doing before his time inside, he is entitled to as much compensation as is possibly allowed for this ridiculous wrongdoing.

I hope that he gets to live more and enjoy more of his life than Stephan Kisko did after he was released following another "local police - simple man -frame up"...

Chip

In the 1980s he assaulted a woman living in his tower-block and was jailed for attempted rape.

Abdabz

Thanks Chip, still, sentance served, totally irrelevant to a compensation claim for what he has endured.

I got arrested once but if someone drove into the back of me and I got whiplash i would still expect compensation...

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I must agree that he didn't do it, its the criminal underworld sending Crimewatch a message, however, though I sympathise with Mr George's unfair incarceration to a certain extent it does make me think that potentially him being away has avoided him pursuing further sex crimes.

he is not a harmless, hapless nutter, he is a convicted sex criminal who has struck before and convicted, at the time of Jill Dando's murder he claims to have not been in the frame as he was stalking another woman ffs, presumably given the opportunity he may have attempted rape again.

Hopefully, him being well known may make his earlier activities impossible.

Personally I think he and the female population may be safer if he spends the rest of his days in a secure unit.

CLSII

I agree with Abdabz.

Just because the man was a convicted attempted rapist and self confessed stalker who's best defence was that he was stalking some other poor woman at the time doesn't make him guilty. Despite the fact that the police are not looking for anyone else and that time has muddied the water together with changes in forensic science. He's obviously innocent.....just misunderstood.

Even if he did murder her

fast bloke

The 'link' between them can't be proven, so it is probably fair that it can't be used. I find it strange that his history cannot be used in the case. The guy shouldn't be allowed within a mile of any woman without an armed guard. Doesn't mean that he shot her, but by keeping him inside for the best part of a decade they have probably saved countless woman from being harrased, stalked and possibly raped

Felix.

His previous attacks on women can be used as evidence of bad character, especially if certain aspects of his MO are the same as those in the Dando case.

His defence argued that the particle found in his pocket could have been blown there. Which i suppose there is a one in a million chance of it happening - but a chance all the same. Therefore you can not put him at the scene with a 100% certainty. Because of this the judge ordered this evidence removed from the case.

No one can ID him either at or near the scene although the descriptions match its not enough for 100% identification.

So, because all the evidence linking him to the scene has been removed from the case (gun residue), there is insufficient evidence left to convict. So he walks free.

In my opinion - Police are not looking for anyone else because they know its him, but now can not prove it

ritchie21

Actually, that isn't why the particle evidence was ruled as inadmissible. It was because the police when bagging up the coat and transporting it for testing had not secured it properly.

The experts could not rule out that such a tiny speck could not have been on his coat without the possibility that it had gotten there by contamination. The experts had to agree also, that it was strange that no other and importantly, larger, samples of gun residue were not found on the jacket, if George had been responsible for the shooting.

Quite right that the evidence was not allowed before the jury as it had no evidential value whatsoever. A documentary took place late last year or early this, when two of the jury from the original trial were interviewed. They both said that they had doubts about their decision to convict and that had they known about the issues of the gun residue, they would not have taken it into account when considering their verdicts.

RJM25R

iTrader: (1)

I don't think anybody knows for sure, but I find it disturbing that this "simple" man is suspected of committing a perfect murder. . . . No witnesses, no forensic clues left behind, murder weapon never found or even IDENTIFIED (the crimped bullet made it impossible to ID exactly what kind of gun it was fired from) no identifiable motive (stalkers/rapists don't want to kill their victims, they want to CONTROL them!)

Looks pretty professional from where I'm standing. Can't see how someone with an IQ of 75, suffering from epilepsy and panic attacks, could do a better job than MOST murderers who get caught!

Mitchy260

It was a professional 'assassins' hit,

Barry George is not a professional.

There was lots of other evidence to suggest that 1 minescule particle was found on his clothing due to cross contamination, the way it was handled, firearm officers being in the flat when his clothing was removed, the way it was bagged and tagged, there was a whole load of reasons. It was not even sure if it had come from a gun, it could have come from fireworks or even a match. How on earth can you use this as evidence

There was a panorama special about this a couple of years ago and i thought it was quite conclusive from that alone that he did not commit this act.

There was something about him being in 2 places at once that baffled me, i cant remember the exact details but IIRC he was spotted somewhere (benefits office i think) and was caught on video just after the crime took place. However, the place in question, (the benefit office) was too far from the crime scene in order for Barry George to have the suitable time frame to commit the murder, go home and get changed and then get to the benefits office. It was either that or before the crime, i cant remember but from that alone i was convinced that he was not the man.

They locked up the local oddball, Barry george is not a professional hitman. The person that done so, obviously is.

Always knew the guy was innocent.

DCI Gene Hunt

Hardly a "professional hit"......

...... nothing clever about walking up behind someone who's trying to open their front door and then shooting her in the back of the head and leaving her collapsed on her door step in a pool of blood.... while the murderer runs off to catch a bus!

..... It's about the firearm if you ask me, you can buy them in pubs these days, and most are ex crime weapons anyway that have probably been previously converted to 'hide' most traces of weapon type etc.

DCI CSI

Mitchy260

No-one seen the assassin and there were no forensics left.

Define professional

DCI Gene Hunt

Not "offing" someone in a street where the potential to a) be seen and b) be heard exists.....

A professional hit is mitigating the potential to be discovered and caught, which this amatuer did not... he was just very lucky!

DCI CSI 007

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Barry George is innocent of that crime, of that I am certain, but in a more general sense he isnt innocent, he is a dangerous and unstable pervert, nobody should be stitched up for a crime they didnt commit but he was a more deserving "victim" than most of the population, sayign he couldnt of done it as he was stalking elsewhere speaks volumes, terrible when your stalking routine is disrupted by a bogus murder charge, I think he should get extra compo for that.

He has lost 8 years of his life but in that 8 years he hasnt caused any further misery for other women, he may well have ended up inside again anyway, as for rapists not killing victims, I suspect thick ones do thinking it will keep things quiet.

Give him a few quid and then keep a close eye on him, I should imagine having paparazi in tow would spoil his covert antics.

j4ckos mate

made me laff i was stalking someone else at the time.

you can just imagine is lawyer "noooooooooooooooooooooo"

Chip

Not irrelevant at all. You asked what he had been doing before being sentenced. Well he spent 2 1/2 years in jail for rape for starters.

He lied in court as well. Fact.

I'm not saying he's guilty of this crime and he may well be be innocent. But he's not a nice guy by any means and maybe it would be better for society and moreso women if he was held in some sort of secure unit for his and others sake.

Chip

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Hopefully his previous victims will sue him after he is awarded compensation.