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Barry George 'laid flowers' for shot Jill Dando
Rashid Razaq and Paul Cheston, Evening Standard10.06.08
Barry George, the man accused of murdering Jill Dando, today walked the streets of west London for the first time in eight years.
His Old Bailey trial adjourned to Fulham this afternoon to see the doorstep where the Crimewatch presenter, 37, was shot in the head at point-blank range.
The judge, jury and barristers arrived in a cordoned-off Gowan Avenue at 12.50pm in a silver tour bus, accompanied by four police motorcycle riders and at least another 10 officers on foot.
George, handcuffed to a female prison guard and escorted by three other officers, emerged from a prison van.
The court had earlier visited Crookham Road, 500 yards from the scene of Miss Dando's killing, where George, 48, lived at the time of the presenter's death.
Talking to his psychologist Dr Susan Young, the alleged killer stood 15 feet from the jury as they looked at Dando's former home - a two-storey Victorian house valued at £1.25 million - for around 18 minutes.
The court then conducted a walking tour of key scenes in the case including CCTV cameras on Stevenage Road and Fulham Palace Road.
A woman walking her dog and other members of the public passed through the travelling court, coming within yards of George.
They were also due to see the Hafad disability advice centre which George visited on the day of the shooting and London Traffic Cars in Fulham Palace Road. In the Old Bailey this morning, the jury heard how George had made enquiries about building a memorial to Miss Dando after her death on 26 April 1999.
Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said the accused had pretended he was due to make a reading at the presenter's memorial service and claimed he had laid flowers outside her home.
But when first interviewed by police a year after the killing, George said he had not heard of Miss Dando before her death and was at home when she was shot, according to Mr Laidlaw.
Two days after her death, he had spoken to a newspaper journalist, giving the name Barry Bulsara.
"He said he used to see her [Miss Dando] on Crimewatch and she seemed a lovely lady," Mr Laidlaw added.
"This is a markedly different position from that he was to take during his inter-views by the police when he claimed he had never heard of Jill Dando before her death."
Mr Laidlaw also told how George went to his local housing department to ask if they had considered erecting a Dando memorial. He added: "If he had not known anything about Jill Dando before her death, why was he paying so much attention to her memory?"
This is the second trial of George for the murder of Miss Dando. He denies the charge. The case continues.
