Cleared suspect receives support from wrongly convicted Sion Jenkins
By John Bynorth and Rachelle Money

BARRY George, who was cleared of murdering Jill Dando after spending eight years behind bars for the crime, has vowed: "I won't follow women any more."

An Old Bailey jury found the 48-year-old not guilty of killing the Crimewatch presenter after an eight-week retrial.

During three weeks of surveillance before his arrest George, from Fulham, was seen to approach 38 women and try to make conversation with them.

In an interview this weekend, George said he realised his history of pestering women had fuelled police suspicion about him, and promised to change.

"I don't want to spend any more time in any of Her Majesty's holiday camps...I won't follow women any more. I know it's wrong," he said. "I will be vigilant from now on. I am never going to give anyone the chance to send me away again. I have changed."

George's comments came as it emerged that Dando's murder could be the subject of a cold-case review. Nearly a decade on, police may re-examine the huge amount of evidence amassed during the original investigation in the hope of finding the real culprit of the brutal killing.

Commander Simon Foy, head of Scotland Yard's homicide and serious crime command, said he was disappointed by the not guilty verdict and would consider how to take the investigation forward. A police source said any new examination of evidence would seek to identify new lines of inquiry.

George's barrister, William Clegg QC, said he thought the intense publicity surrounding the case had put pressure on the police to catch the perpetrator, and had distorted their approach to the case. "I think they did close their mind after the arrest of Barry George," he said.

George is now expected to seek compensation of at least £250,000 for his time in jail. However, he said he hoped his life would return to normal now he had been released from custody.

"I don't want people to always say: There's Barry George, he killed Jill Dando'. I want them to say: There's Barry George, he didn't kill Jill Dando'."

But Sion Jenkins, who was cleared of murdering his foster daughter after three dramatic trials, has warned George will now need "years of counselling".

The former deputy headteacher spent six years in jail after being convicted of bludgeoning 13-year-old Billie-Jo Jenkins with a tent peg on the patio of his home in Hastings, East Sussex, 11 years ago.

Jenkins, 50, walked free from the Old Bailey in similar dramatic circumstances to George after a judge ruled he should be found not guilty when the jury failed to reach a verdict at his second retrial in 2006.

Jenkins told the Sunday Herald: "Barry has a number of supportive people around him, particularly his sister Michelle Diskin, who has campaigned tirelessly for him. He will be able to trust their judgement when he needs it most.

"Barry will be confused. It will take him years of counselling to come to terms with everything that has happened after all that time behind bars. All men and women who leave prison after their convictions are quashed suffer from post-traumatic stress."

Diskin spent last weekend with Jenkins and his wife Tina at their Portsmouth home. He met the campaigner at a Glasgow conference organised by John McManus and Paddy Hill of the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation in April.

Jenkins, who hopes to meet George soon, added: "Michelle always believed justice would be done."

Sion Jenkins will publish his book, The Murder Of Billie-Jo Jenkins, tomorrow