Barry George found not guilty !

[FoghornLeghorn]

He's been found not guilty today at the old bailey, 9 years after being accused of killing Jill Dando

[Monkeytrousers]

He might still be guilty. The point is the trial was a farce and he had to be aquitted on those grounds.

[MsDemeanor]

Given he's a regular stalker who has been convicted of attempted rape and was found trying to 'meet' princess Diana with a 12in hunting knife and coil of rope, do I feel safer knowing he is released? Er, no.
IN his case, better in than out, I'd say.
While I feel sympathy for his medical problems, I still think he is clearly a danger to women.Do I feel sad about his time in prison? no.

[stoppinattwo]

Why do you say you dont feel sad about his time in prison MsD...If he didnt do it then surely it is sad that he was locked up for all those years?

[MsDemeanor]

WEll, he did do 'something' he stalked hundreds of women and tried to rape at least one. When he was in prison he couldn't frighten and traumatise woman. That's all good. He's not a nice man, you know. In my opinion, men who try to rape women should be in prison for a long, long time.

[tiredemma]

I dont think its right that he was locked up for 9 years for a crime he didnt do.

[Scoops]

So do you all think he's innocent just because a bunch of high powered lawyers managed to convince a jury that he was innocent? After all, he does have a history of stalking and playing with guns.....

[wannaBe]

reality though is that we don't know he didn't do it. The reason that his conviction was quashed is because the evidence against him was very flimsy and was not allowed to be used during the retrial.

Now I'm not saying that the man is guilty, our British justice system has found him to be innocent in fact. But if a justice system can wrongly convict, then it can wrongly aquit as well, no?

[tiredemma]

But wasnt it suggested that this was a well-planned attack, not one likely to have been carried out by a man with an IQ of 75???

[MsDemeanor]

I don't care. I think 9 years is pretty paltry for a man who regularly stalks and terrifies women and tries to rape them. The more time he spends in prison the better, I think. London is clearly a safer place for women without him in it, mental disability or no mental disability. And before anyone jumps on me, my son has a developmental disability. I wouldn't want to see him in prison, but if he tried to rape women (which to be honest, I cannot ever imagine) I might see some kind on incarceration as an option.

[Blu]

The documentary last year demonstrated pretty strong evidence that it couldn't have been him...and also that at least on of the sexual crimes was brought on equally dubious grounds.

I may be worng but i thought he was convicted of sexual assault, not rape?

[Blu]

All in all it sounded as if he needed some effective intervention for his mental and psychological disorders, at an early age. He has learning difficulties, a personality disorder and some other things as well, I think.

I'm not saying that his threat t women should be discounted or played down - but it's not right that he was convicted of a crime he didn't commit...and while he wa locked up the real killer of JD is still on the loose, and the police stopped looking. Not a good result at all.

[MsDemeanor]

Hew has a conviction for attempted rape on a very young foreign student, and also for sexual assault, and various failed attempt at prosecution for sexual assault. I would describe him as a serious danger to women. And well all know how hard it is to get a conviction for any sexual crime and how many crimes the average criminal gets away with before he is convicted.

[MsDemeanor]

I'm not entirely convinced he didn't do it. Given his strenuous attempt to get himself an alibi. It's entirely possible he didn't, but that doesn't make him a nice bloke and good neighbour. He has a history of violence and strange behaviour towards women. I felt very differently about the loon who was persecuted over the Wimbledon Common murderers who had no form at all.

[stoppinattwo]

Blu I agree completely....while he was in jail the police could sit tight, confident that they had the right guy, and quite rightly so, he had been found guilty. However, now it must be a very worrying task for them thinking that there may be someone out ther who has done this and they need to find them.

I personally think that the police are never really a million miles away from the guilty person, they have the experience but hte problem is that people walk on technicalities..He might have done it and his right to appeal has worked in his favour, we will never know. There is no good result, if he was guilty, we have just let him out again. If he wasnt guilty, then he has done this time for nothing and JD's killer has been walking all this time, possibly hurting other people in the mean time

[wannaBe]

indecent asalt and attempted rape.

he sounds like a deeply scary individual

"greater concern to detectives, however, were the dozens of rolls of film containing 2,248 pictures of 419 different women. The photographs had been taken
by Mr George as he stalked women around Hammersmith and Fulham ? often accosting them, asking for dates or following them to their homes." not someone I would feel happy about living close to.
"He was placed under surveillance and was seen to approach 38 women during a three-week period." innocent of JD's murder he may be, but i doubt the women he stalked beforehand are sleeping easy now knowing he's out there again.

If this obsession is not something he has any control over, then maybe questions should be raised as to whether he should actually be free, or whether he maybe should be detained under the mental health act.

[MsDemeanor]

I think the police believed they had the right bloke. THere are no other leads. It's not like him or criminal X. There is no criminal X. But while George was in prison, women weren't being stalked and attacked by him. And that has to be good news.

[fedupandisolated]

Blimey! Barry George says he couldn't have killed Jill Dando because he was "stalking another woman at the time"!!

...and he's back on the streets - how reassuring.

[wannaBe]

The more I hear about this man the less I feel sorry for him.

I feel desperately sorry for JD's family, who thought that justice had been done and who now have to face the possibility that JD's killer may never be found.

But while BJ has now been aquitted of this crime, I can't help wondering how many other crimes he got away with.

I feel sorry for jd's family. and I feel that this has turned a deeply unpleasant individual into a victim. He will now always be remembered for the wrong that was committed against him, as opposed to the wrongs he committed against the several hundred women he stalked.

[moondog]

That Timesarticlementions a juror feeling bad and 'phoninig the court repeatedlty after trial' Eh? Bit bloody late surely?

[donovan]

[DeeRiguer]

its good news am so pleased for him ^ his sister, family,
i never thought he was guilty
this case seemed to stink from the get-go..

wtf in the report i heard on the radio the police were disappointed..
but it seems it was okay to let whoever did it get away and the trail get cold for all these years

Jill Dando and family, friends are robbed of justice, as barry george had no justice and lost his liberty..
and the general public, too..no justice and murderer on the loose..

you say you are upset he is out now...he has been found INNOCENT oh and a killer has been allowed to get away and that dont disturb you more??

i think some attitudes here stink, he wasnt guilty he was a bit weirdy, and not the full shilling i think,..

its not a hanging offence...yet

[unknownrebelbang]

He's not been found innocent.

He's been found not guilty.

There is a difference.

(I have no views either way, I've not been following the retrial).