Barry George could now win compensation for miscarriage of justice
26 Aug 2010
Barry George, the man who was accused of murdering Jill Dando
before being acquitted, could be in line for compensation if it is
agreed there was a
miscarriage of justice.
The 50-year-old was convicted of killing the TV presenter in 2001,
but following an appeal, this was quashed in November 2007 and he
was found not guilty in 2008.
However, he had by then spent eight years behind bars for a crime
he insists he did not commit.
Dando was shot in the head on the doorstep of her home in April
1999 and neighbours reported seeing a man in a blue overcoat
hanging around at the time of the killing.
George was held responsible due to a single particle of gunshot
residue in his pocket, but this was later disputed in court, with
lawyers arguing it could have come from his arrest by armed
police.
Earlier this year, his appeal for GBP 1.4 million in compensation
for the miscarriage of justice was turned down, but he has now won
the first round of an appeal against the decision.
A High Court judge said he must now wait until next year to find
out if he will be entitled to a payout, after the Supreme Court has
heard a number of cases regarding the term miscarriage of
justice.
In August 2008, Colin Stagg, the man who was imprisoned for and
then later cleared of the murder of Rachel Nickell, was awarded
over GBP 700,000 in damages for his wrongful imprisonment.
A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment
of a person for a crime that he or she did not commit.
Most criminal justice systems have some means to overturn a
wrongful conviction, but this is often difficult to achieve. The
most serious instances occur when a wrongful conviction is not
overturned for several years, or until after the innocent person
has died in jail.
