Jurors trying the loner accused of the murder of T
Jurors trying the loner accused of the murder of TV girl Jill Dando were today (Tues) reminded of his reaction when he was allegedly asked if he carried out the crime.
On the second day of his summing up Mr Justice Gage recalled the evidence of Lenita Bailey who was called as a prosecution witness.
She claims she asked Barry George about the murder during a conversation in a hairdressers in Fulham Road near his home.
Miss Bailey said she asked George, 41, if he killed Jill three times, after he said he had been seen by police in connection with the crime.
The first time she asked ‘she turned round and looked at him and he was looking at the floor and playing with his hands,’ said Mr Justice Gage.
Miss Bailey asked again: ‘Did you kill Jill Dando?’ – but again there was no response.
‘He then rocked in his chair,’ the judge went on.
‘Asked a third time he just looked at the floor.
His lips moved but nothing was said.
‘
When she gave evidence George’s QC Michael Mansfield suggested that she never asked him if he killed Jill.
But Miss Bailey replied: ‘I really wish I didn’t ask those questions.
‘
Mr Justice Gage went on: ‘You have to ask yourselves whether she was truthful and accurate in the evidence she has given.
‘The prosecution say his (George’s) reaction was significant.
Was it the reaction of an innocent man and wouldn’t an innocent man immediately have denied the killing.
‘
Mr Justice Gage said if the jury accepted Miss Bailey’s evidence ‘it is capable of supporting the Crown’s case.
‘But it is for you to decide whether you are sure the conversation took place and whether it is significant as the prosecution suggest.
‘That part of the conversation is not accepted by the defence.
‘
He told Miss Bailey the police were harassing him in connection with the killing.
‘Ms Bailey asked: ‘Did you do it?,’ Mr Pownall said.
‘The defendant remained silent and stared at the floor.
She repeated the question twice more and asked him to look at her.
‘His lips moved as if he was thinking of an answer but nothing was forthcoming.
‘
Mr Justice Gage turned to the evidence of another prosecution witness, Sally Mason, who knew George from the Fulham area.
She spoke to him after the murder.
‘She knew him as Superman because of the T-shirt he wore.
He said he had been to the police station because he could help wrap up, meaning solve, the murder.
‘She didn’t take much notice of him and thought he was living in another world.
‘She wrote off what he was saying as fantasy.
‘
Mr Justice Gage told the jury: ‘It’s for you to decide whether she was accurate in her recollection and whether it helps you in deciding any of the issues in the case.
‘
Jill, 37, was shot at the front door of her home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, at around 11.
30am on April 26, 1999.
George, of Crookham Road, Fulham, denies murder and the Mr Justice Gage’s summing up to the jury continues.
ends
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