Today, the judges hearing Barry George's appeal, condemned the two documentaries aired about his case last week as "irresponsible", despite admitting that they hadn't watched them, which of course they aren't allowed to do in case it influenced them.

Of course it shouldn't be surprising that judges would be upset about the public being shown how corrupt the justice system is, or that we might be able to see how obvious it is that there is no evidence that Barry George was responsible, or capable of Jill Dando's murder.

The disgusting CPS and police are still saying that even if the single speck of firearms residue found in the pocket of a coat belonging to Barry George is excluded as evidence, as it should be considering that the Forensic Science Service now states that it proves nothing, not to mention that the coat could have been contaminated by being placed on a dummy to be photographed before being sent to the lab, against proper guidelines and procedure, there is still sufficient other evidence to uphold the convicton. Such as:

The 8 articles about Jill Dando (not highlighted or marked in any way) found in some of the 800 magazines and newspapers Barry George had in his flat.

The identification, a year after the murder, by a witness of Barry George as the man she saw wiping a car window in Jill Dando's street around the time of the murder, despite her statement saying that the man had long hair, which Barry George never had. The likely explanation is that the man wiping the window was the driver and Barry George could neither drive nor had he ever owned a car.

The identification by another witness of Barry George as a man seen in the street 4 hours before the murder.

A photograph of Barry George wearing a gas mask and holding a replica pistol, taken 11 years before and never developed by him. The police used his true statement that he'd never seen the picture as evidence of his lying.

His keen interest in guns, which friends state was no more than a childish fantasy attributable to his low mental functioning.

His "attempt to create an alibi" by going to a disability centre after he heard about the murder and asking what time he'd been there. This again is attributable to his mental problems, particularly his poor memory and his (justifiable) paranoia that the police might ask him about his movements, considering they'd harrassed him many times in the past.

I really can't see how a retrial could take place without the firearms residue "evidence" but unfortunately, it wouldn't surprise me if the judges order one just to keep Barry George locked up a bit longer, or even dismiss the appeal just out of pique at the documentaries and the general public daring to think they could understand the poor quality of the evidence better than their 'highly-tuned minds'.

The police are saying that even if Barry George is cleared, it's unlikely the investigation will be re-opened, because of course that would be to admit they'd got it all wrong and of course he was guilty but they just weren't fortunate enough to find the evidence. Anyway, the public outcry's died down now and a large section of the public will probably think the same way as the police, so they won't be under such pressure to get a result as they were back then. I expect any evidence such as Jill Dando's clothing has been destroyed by now as well, so there's no chance of taking advantage of new developments in DNA techniques to see if it's possible to retrieve the killer's DNA, not to mention that the FSS weren't doing a very good job between 2000-2005:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2018512,00.html

Doesn't seem like anything's changed since Colin Stagg.