Barry George

Barry George (born 15 April 1960) is a British criminal who was wrongly held in prison for 8 years for the assassination of journalist Jill Dando. He later had a retrial. His murder conviction and sentence were overturned.

Barry George was born in London in 1960. He is mentally ill and has an IQ of 75. Prior to his trial, he was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and three personality disorders: antisocial, histrionic and narcissistic. When he was young he was a keen roller skater. He once leapt over a line of buses, using a ramp. He used to assume other names, calling himself Paul Gadd (Gary Glitter's real name) and Steve Majors. He also called himself Barry Bulsara and falsely claimed to be Freddie Mercury's cousin. (Mercury was born Farouq Bulsara).

In the early 1980s, he was convicted of impersonating a police officer, attempted rape and indecent assault. In 1983, he was arrested in the grounds of Kensington Palace whilst Prince Charles and Princess Diana were living there. George was carrying a knife, a rope and a poem which he wrote for Prince Charles. He also had photographs of himself in his flat with a mask and guns.

In 2000, he was arrested and charged with murdering Jill Dando. In 2001, he was convicted of the murder, but appealed his sentence. He was retried and found not guilty. Witnesses claimed he could not have killed her at 11.30am, because he was seen 20 minutes later much farther from her house than he could have been. George was released on 1 August 2008. In 2013 it was decided that George would not be given compensation for being put in prison for a murder he did not do.

George now lives in Ballincollig, County Cork.