Police 'were told that Dando was killed by an assassin'

A Serbian hitman working on the orders of the notorious war criminal Arkan may have assassinated Jill Dando, according to information given to the police national intelligence service.

A jury at the Old Bailey was told the report, from an unidentified source, claimed the murder of the BBC television presenter was revenge for the Nato bombing of a television station in Belgrade.

Yesterday, though, the officer in charge of investigating the death of the 37-year-old celebrity rejected any link with a Yugoslavian assassination plot.

Michael Mansfield, QC, who is defending the man accused of her murder, Barry George, told the Old Bailey that there was evidence to suggest that Miss Dando, who was shot dead on the doorstep of her home in south-west London on 26 April 1999, had been a victim of state terrorism. He argued that Ms Dando may have become a target after she presented a television appeal for aid for Kosovan refugees and then days later Nato fired a cruise missile at a television station owned by a relative of Slobodan Milosevic, killing 17 people. Mr Mansfield read out an intelligence report received at the National Criminal Intelligence Service and passed to officers investigating Ms Dando's shooting.

It stated: "Jill Dando was the subject of an execution by a Yugoslavian hitman. Intelligence sources suggest that as a result of the bombing of a TV station run by the daughters of Milosevic, a contract was put out on the head of the BBC, John Birt.

"As a result of him receiving threatening letters his security was stepped up ­ after this the target was changed to Jill Dando.

"The hit was ordered by Arkan, the leader of the Tigers. The gunman was a Yugoslavian who arrived in the UK from Germany via France. He used the ferry because flying was considered too dangerous."

Arkan ­ real name Zeljko Raznatovic ­ whose Serbian paramilitary "Tigers" committed atrocities in the Balkan conflict, was shot dead in the lobby of a hotel in Belgrade in January last year.

Mr Mansfield also asked: "Or there could be a maverick, disenchanted exile Serbian here who wanted retribution?" The barrister said the funerals of some of those killed in the Belgrade television station bombing had taken place on the day and "almost at the same time" as Ms Dando was shot.

A series of telephone calls were also made to the BBC in the days after the death.

One call was made to Television Centre in London on 27 April, by a man with a foreign accent, possibly eastern European, Mr Mansfield said.

The caller said: "Yesterday I called you to tell you to add a few more numbers to the list.

"Because your government, and in particular your Prime Minister Blair, murdered and butchered 17 innocent young people who worked like make-up artists, electricians and technological engineers.

"These type of people he butchered. We butcher back. The first you had yesterday.

"The next one will be Tony Hall [the head of current affairs and news at the BBC]."

In response to Mr Mansfield's suggestions, Detective Chief Inspector Hamish Campbell told the jury there was no evidence to support the hitman theory, which was discounted by his team of detectives.

"To suggest the murder is driven by Serbia or state- sponsored terrorists is not going to stand up, in my professional opinion," he said.

Orlando Pownall, for the prosecution, asked in re- examination what factors Mr Campbell had taken into account when discounting a link with Serbia. The officer said one was the lack of any public acknowledgement for the shooting. "It would not be left for us to guess why she had been killed."

He went on to reveal that his officers became increasingly suspicious of Mr George, 41, who was later charged with murder, which he denies. Between 22 May and 25 May last year 50 police officers were involved in a covert surveillance operation monitoring Mr George. The operation included fitting a secret camera outside his house and employing an undercover officer who spoke to the suspect.

The trial continues.