Barry George, the man who wrongly spent eight years in prison for the murder of BBC star Jill Dando, is due to stand trial accused of raping a school girl in the 1980s

By RYAN HOOPER, CRIME CORRESPONDENT Published: 11:15, 28 July 2026 | Updated: 11:26, 28 July 2026 The man eventually cleared of murdering TV presenter Jill Dando is due to go on trial next year accused of raping a 14-year-old girl almost 40 years ago. Barry George, 66, of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, previously pleaded not guilty at Southwark Crown Court to one count of rape and two counts of indecent assault. He has also denied an alternative offence of attempted rape. The incidents are alleged to have taken place in the Hammersmith and Fulham area of west London between September 6 and 12 1987. He was not required to attend the same court today for a four-minute administrative hearing in which His Honour Judge Tony Baumgartner set a trial date of April 2027. The trial will come before a High Court judge and jury, and last for between two and three weeks. Ms Dando, 37, was shot in the head on the doorstep of her home on Gowan Avenue, Fulham, west London, on April 26, 1999. George was arrested on suspicion of murder in 2000 and was handed a life sentence after being found guilty of murder following a trial in 2001. Barry George, who spent eight years in prison after being wrongly convicted of the murder of BBC TV presenter Jill Dando, is due to go on trial for raping a 14-year-old girl in 1987 Ms Dando was shot outside her home in Fulham in 1999. Her murder remains unsolved George, pictured at a previous court hearing But the conviction was quashed in 2007 by the Court of Appeal and he was cleared by a jury the following year after a retrial. He had spent eight years in prison. Former Crimewatch presenter Ms Dando was one of the BBC’s highest-profile stars when she was killed. No one has been convicted of her killing since. Last year detectives launched an investigation into evidence that linked a Serbian assassin to the unsolved murder. It has long been suspected that Ms Dando was shot by a professional assassin. Police said the case remains ‘inactive’. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.