The man wrongly jailed for the murder of Jill Dando has called for a new inquiry to be launched to catch the TV presenter’s killer.
Barry George spent eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit after the Crimewatch presenter was gunned down on her doorstep in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, in April 1999.
He was arrested in 2000 and convicted after his trial heard a fragment of gunpowder in his coat pocket could be linked to the murder. That evidence was dismissed at a 2008 retrial and he was found not guilty.
Speaking from Ireland, where he now lives, Mr George said: “I hope we can get justice. Justice for Jill’s family would be to know the right person has been held responsible for the crime.
“I can forgive the police for what they did to me, but I won’t forget.
“I’ve moved on from what’s happened. It was up to the Metropolitan Police how they wanted to handle their case.
“But I am angry they didn’t want to get the right person, and that they pursued someone who was innocent.”
He added: “There’s some justice out there. It’s just a matter of finding the right answers.
“Anyone who was pursued through the courts like I have been would want justice.”
Looking back at his arrest, the 54-year-old said: “Everything happened so fast. I just didn’t know what to think or say.
“I still don’t know why the police came after me in the first place. I believe the police wanted a scapegoat.
“To a certain extent, I do feel I am vulnerable. I was an easy target for the police. Then it came down to them becoming obsessed with trying to put a square peg in a round hole.
“I had never met Jill Dando in my life. I didn’t know her. I didn’t know where she lived. I didn’t even know who she was.
“But the police didn’t want to believe that.”
Mr George was speaking to the Daily Mirror, after its investigation heaped pressure on the police to reopen the Dando case.
TV detective and former TV presenter Mark Thomas Williams said he believes 37-year-old Dando murder was a ordered by a ‘Mr Big’ to warn police off from investigating organised crime.
