Dando murder trial jury selection starts

3 June 2008 01:47pm

Potential jurors in the Barry George retrial have been told they would be excluded if they knew murder victim Jill Dando.

George, 48, of Fulham, west London, denies shooting the BBC television presenter, who was 37, dead in April 1999 and is facing his second trial.

Mr Justice Griffith Williams told potential jurors at the Old Bailey they'd be given a questionnaire with five points that could bar them.

The judge told them: "The defendant is Barry George. He is charged with the murder of Jill Dando, the well-known journalist and television personality.

"This will be the second trial of Mr George for this alleged offence. Many of you, I suspect, will have read of the first trial and the case generally because it attracted, at the time and since, a great deal of media interest."

That knowledge wouldn't prevent them from serving because they would pledge to try the case on what they heard in court.

But he added: "If any of you know anything in addition to that, let me know when your name is called out."

Those banned from service are Metropolitan Police, employees of the force, those who knew Miss Dando and her then fiance, doctor Alan Farthing, anyone who worked for the BBC and anyone who lived in the Fulham area during the last 30 years.

A panel of 20 jurors were to be selected today (Tuesday) and the final 12 sworn in tomorrow. They'll be put in charge of the case on Monday when prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC will address them. The trial is due to last between six to eight weeks.

© The Press Association