Barry George
| Barry George | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Barry Michael George 15 April 1960 London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Paul Gadd Thomas Palmer Steve Majors Barry Bulsara |
| Known for | Wrongful conviction for murder of television presenter Jill Dando. |
| Criminal charge | Murder of Jill Dando on 26 April 1999 |
| Criminal penalty | Convicted on 2 July 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment |
| Criminal status | Conviction quashed by Court of Appeal on 15 November 2007 |
| Spouse(s) | Itsuko Toide (m. 1989; div. 1990) |
| Parent(s) | Alfred and Margaret George |
Barry Michael George (born 15 April 1960, also known as Barry Bulsara) is a British man who was wrongly convicted on 2 July 2001 of the murder of British television presenter Jill Dando.
Owing to the immense popularity of the victim there was exceptional outrage from the public, who were impatient for a conviction. In the absence of other suspects, George attracted police attention because many elements in his background seemed to point to his guilt, although the only actual evidence was a tiny speck of material that may or may not have been gunshot residue. He was convicted of murder, but his conviction was subsequently judged unsafe by the Court of Appeal and was quashed in 2007. After a retrial, he was acquitted on 1 August 2008, though his claims for compensation for wrongful imprisonment were dismissed.
Barry George was born in Hammersmith Hospital, London, to Alfred and Margaret (née Burke), who is Irish. The couple had married in July 1954. He was the youngest of three children; they grew up in a high-rise flat in White City, London. His sister Michelle Diskin, who lives in the Republic of Ireland, is five years older than he is; his sister Susan, three years older than he is, died of epilepsy aged 28 in 1986. George also suffers from epilepsy. His parents split up when he was seven and divorced in December 1973. George's father remarried and emigrated to Australia. The couple subsequently moved to Wales, where they still live. George's mother reverted to using her maiden name; she died in Ireland in September 2011.
George attended Wormholt Park Primary School in White City, but was soon transferred to Northcroft School for children with educational and behavioural disorders in Hammersmith. At 14, he attended the publicly funded Heathermount boarding school in Sunningdale, Berkshire, for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. After leaving school without qualifications, his only employment was as a messenger at BBC Television Centre on a fixed term contract for six months; the job lasted only five months. His interest in the BBC endured until his arrest; he was a regular reader of the in-house magazine Ariel, and had reportedly kept four copies of the memorial issue which featured Jill Dando's murder. George has exhibited an interest in celebrities, including Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince Charles.
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