Man accused of killing Jill Dando 'laid flowers near to where she was shot'

The man accused of killing television personality Jill Dando laid flowers near the spot where she was shot, a court heard today.

Barry George told staff at a local help centre that he went to Miss Dando's house the day after she was killed on her doorstep, jurors were told.

George, a local loner said to approach women in the area to find out where they lived, told staff he had not kept an appointment because of the killing.

Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey: 'The defendant said he had not kept his appointment of the previous day because he had been laying flowers at Jill Dando's house on behalf of his church.'

George had gone to the Hafad disability centre after the murder on April 26, 1999 to establish a false alibi, it was alleged.

An appointment was made for the next day but was not kept. On April 28, he returned but was 'threatening and intimidating in his manner', said Mr Laidlaw.

George, 48, of Fulham, west London, denies murdering Miss Dando, 37, who was shot in the head. George was first tried in 2001 and is now facing a retrial.

He walked the streets of west London for the first time in eight years today after the court went to Fulham to see where the Crimewatch presenter was killed.

George, wearing a blue shirt and tie with a fluorescent yellow vest, and his lawyers went with the rest of the court to Gowan Avenue, which was cordoned off for the visit.

The judge, jury and barristers all arrived in a silver tour bus accompanied by four police motorcycle riders and at least another 10 officers on foot.

Handcuffed to a female prison guard and escorted by three other officers, George emerged from a prison van and stayed around 15ft away from the jury.

Gunned down: Jill Dando, the Crimewatch and Holiday Programme presenter, was shot dead on her own doorstep nine years ago

The court had earlier visited Crookham Road, 500 yards away, where the defendant had been living at the time Miss Dando was killed.

He spoke to his psychologist Susan Young as the jury looked at the presenter's house, a Victorian property valued at £1.2million, for almost 20 minutes.

During the mile and a half tour of Fulham, the entourage followed the route George claimed to have taken on the day of Miss Dando's murder.

While they stopped at a set of CCTV cameras near Craven Cottage, the home ground of Fulham FC, George was ushered under a tree as he covered his face in the bright sunshine.

After more than three hours, the jurors completed their tour at London Traffic Cars taxi booth and the Hafad Centre, on Gresswell Street, which George visited on the day of the shooting.

The defendant, who was sweating profusely, had his head bowed as he was taken back into his prison van while the jury left in the police-escorted coach.

The jury visited Gowan Avenue (above) today to see the street where Miss Dando lived and (below) the entrance to her home where she died

The prosecution alleges George was obsessed with celebrities and had pictures of television presenters among 4,000 undeveloped photographs of women found in his flat.

He was also said to pose as Barry Bulsara, claiming to be the cousin of Queen singer Freddie Mercury, and to be fascinated with guns.

Mr Laidlaw told jurors George had told a journalist on April 28, two days after Miss Dando died, that he used to see her on Crimewatch and 'she seemed a lovely lady'.

During the week after Miss Dando's death, George had gone into the local housing department.

'He said that he thought it was sad Jill Dando had been killed and asked whether they had considered erecting some form of memorial in tribute to her,' said Mr Laidlaw.

'He also visited a number of nearby shops and sought letters of condolence from them.'

But when he was arrested a year later, George was said to have denied knowing about Miss Dando until after her death.

Mr Laidlaw asked: 'If he had not known anything about Jill Dando before her death, why was he paying so much attention to her memory?'

On May 9, George was on a bus when he spoke to passenger Vicky Murphy.

'He complained that he was going to be late for Jill Dando's memorial service and was fiddling with a piece of paper which he claimed he was going to read from at the service.

'He said he did not know Miss Dando well but that she had interviewed his cousin Freddie Mercury.'

The trial continues.