Dando trial should have been halted, appeal told

Barry George and his family returned to court yesterday to insist an innocent man had been jailed for murdering the television presenter Jill Dando.

He was a "vulnerable" person, convicted on "flimsy evidence and character assass- ination", George's supporters said outside the Court of Appeal as he began his attempt to overturn the guilty verdict.

Bundled into the building with his head covered, George was flanked by four security guards. With his sister Michelle Diskin and mother, Margaret, sitting in the public gallery, George, 42, spoke only once to identify himself, almost inaudibly, to the court.

He sat impassively as Michael Mansfield, his QC, challenged the evidence on which he was convicted. "This is a case which hinges almost entirely upon identification evidence. Of course we recognise the existence of the [firearms residue] particle [in George's coat] that we say is in a very tenuous category, Mr Mansfield said. "The reason we emphasise this at the start is that the prosecution have continued to assert, as they did at the trial, that they have a compelling and powerful case. We say that is a misdescription of this case. It is in fact the reverse."

Breaks in the proceedings were set aside yesterday to allow George's legal team to ensure that the former musician – who suffers from at least seven disorders including epilepsy– was in a fit condition to follow the case.

When George was arrested more than a year after the Crimewatch presenter's murder, only one woman could positively identify him as being in the area more than four hours before the murder. The rest of the witnesses failed to pick him out of line-ups or appeared unsure of their choice.

The "qualified identification", Mr Mansfield claimed yesterday, should have been dismissed but instead the prosecution "converted" it by explaining the indecision as a factor of the length of time which had elapsed, George's new beard and the fact they saw only head and shoulders video parades.

"This process of converting this kind of evidence to say they really picked the right person subverts everything this court has stood for – the protection of the innocent and vulnerable against mistaken identity," Mr Mansfield said.

The appeal – which is being heard by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, sitting with Mr Justice Curtis and Mr Justice Henriques – would rely largely on questioning the admissibility of identification evidence, Mr Mansfield said. There had been an abuse of process relating to the identification evidence, which should have been ruled inadmissible and the trial stopped. He will also challenge the only scientific evidence, the firearms residue.

George was sentenced to life imprisonment in July last year after being found guilty of shooting Ms Dando on 26 April 1999. He denied murder.

The appeal is expected to last up to four days.