Forensic Access Newsletter - "Benchmark"
January 2009
Barry George - Not Guilty
Forensic Access’ Roger Robson leads the defence case at the Old Bailey - Barry George’s conviction quashed.
On 2nd July 2001, Mr Barry George was convicted, at the Old Bailey, for the murder of television presenter, Jill Dando, and received a life sentence. Mr George had pleaded “not guilty”. There were three key pieces of evidence that led to his conviction:
- A single particle of residue identified as “firearms discharge residue” found in the pocket of a coat worn by Mr George.
- A single textile fibre recovered from Miss Dando’s raincoat, which the prosecution claimed matched those from a pair of Mr George’s trousers.
- Eye witness evidence that Mr George had been seen close to the presenter’s home in the hours before her murder.
Following his conviction, Mr George continued to protest his innocence, and at his second legal challenge, on 15 November 2007, his conviction was quashed and a retrial ordered. This was mainly due to doubts over the validity of the scientific evidence surrounding the identity of the firearms discharge residue.
It was at this point that Mr George’s Defence team, led by Mr Jeremy Moore of Carter Moore Solicitors and Mr William Clegg QC, requested Forensic Access to review the remaining forensic evidence: the single fibre claimed to be from Mr George’s trousers (the trial Judge, Mr Justice Griffith Williams, had ruled the firearms discharge residue evidence inadmissible for the re-trial).
Forensic Access’ Roger Robson, being one of the most experienced and knowledgeable textile fibre forensic scientists in the country, led the work. The Prosecution’s case was that this single, dark blue, polyester fibre, found on Ms Dando’s coat, matched the fibres of a pair of trousers seized from the home of Mr George.
Roger’s work involved the following:
- Examining the contents of about 12 box files of case notes and reports from the original forensic investigation.
- Investigating the quality procedures and processes employed by the forensic supplier, at the time.
- During this process LGC Forensics had been asked by the CPS to undertake a re-examination of the case, using today’s techniques. Again, as part of the Defence case, Roger evaluated this new work.
Roger produced two lengthy reports for the Defence case, which highlighted the following:
- Insufficient testing had been performed by the Prosecution to demonstrate a close match of this one fibre with those of Mr George’s trousers.
- This single fibre had been recovered from Miss Dando’s raincoat. This coat had been removed from her body, by paramedics and left in the open air for between 6 and 9 hours whilst police, paramedics, etc, came and went from the crime scene.
- The original investigation had not eliminated the possibility of this fibre (being a common fibre colour and type) having come from anyone working at the crime scene, other clothing belonging to Miss Dando or the clothes of those close to her (from her fiancée, for example).
- It was Roger’s opinion that whilst fair to report the finding, without further work this did not assist the allegation.
Forensic Access at Court No 1 of the Old Bailey
Mr George’s re-trial began in early June 2008. Mr William Clegg QC asked Roger Robson to be his adviser during his cross-examination of prosecution expert witnesses, in Court No 1 at the Old Bailey. Mr Clegg announced that Mr George would not be taking the witness stand and Roger was then asked to be the first witness for the Defence. For about half a day Roger faced a rigorous cross-examination by the Prosecution’s Barrister, Mr Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, presenting his findings in an objective and controlled manner.
The Verdict
On 30 July 2008 the Jury retired to consider its verdict. Only a few hours later, on Friday 1 August, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of “not guilty”; this after Mr George had faced two trials, two Appeals and seven years in jail.
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