Be cautious on ID issue, judge tells Dando jury

The jury in the Jill Dando murder trial was warned by the judge yesterday to "exercise great caution" when considering identification evidence produced by the prosecution.

Mr Justice Gage, beginning his summing up at the Old Bailey, said the main problem was that most of the identification parades took place a year after the BBC presenter was shot dead.

The judge said the jury was entitled to consider whether any lies told by the defendant, Barry George, had strengthened the prosecution against him. But, he added, "the mere fact a defendant lies does not prove his guilt. A defendant may lie to improve a true defence."

The jury of five men and seven women, who are due to retire to consider their verdict tomorrow, were told they must avoid the temptation of thinking someone must be convicted in such a high-profile and emotive case. He said that, when deciding whether Mr George, 41, was guilty or innocent, they must put aside any "emotion, sympathy or prejudice".

The jurors must have felt "shock and horror" when they heard of Ms Dando's death, the judge said. "It seems crystal clear that Jill Dando was an extremely popular and widely respected individual. Everyone admired her ... Her death attracted a huge amount of publicity."

But he added: "The temptation is to say someone has to pay; someone has to be convicted of this grave crime. But I cannot stress this too strongly, that you should shut out of your mind all feelings of emotion, sympathy and prejudice of any person involved."

The judge pointed out there had been no witnesses to the shooting outside Ms Dando's home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, south-west London. However, a number of people have come forward since to say they did see a man, resembling Mr George, either before or after the shooting on 26 April 1999.

One woman went to the police after watching a news item about the attack. She said she had seen a man of Mediterranean appearance, with an olive complexion, in Gowan Avenue on the night before the murder. She told police that he appeared to be loitering.

However, when it came to an identification parade, she failed to pick out Mr George as the suspect. Because of that it would be "extremely dangerous" to rely on her evidence, the judge said. The jurors had to look for "unity of circumstances", to seek "continuity of descriptions" and to ensure any identification evidence was backed up by other evidence.

Mr Justice Gage said it was for the prosecution to prove Mr George was guilty. Mr George "does not have to prove anything", he said. "The burden of proving his guilt remains on the prosecution from beginning to end and the standard of proof is a high one. You have to be satisfied you are sure of his guilt ... If you are not sure, the verdict must be 'not guilty'."

The judge reiterated that the jury must not be overawed by the case. "You should not allow your decision to be affected by considerations of what you perceive to be the consequences of it," he said.

Mr George, of Crookham Road, Fulham, pleads not guilty to the murder.

Mr Justice Gage will continue his summing up today.