Connect with us

Published

on

The brother of murdered TV presenter Jill Dando says despite the case remaining unsolved 24 years, he has a theory about who could be behind her death.

The execution style killing of one of Britain’s best-loved broadcasters in broad daylight on her own doorstep in April 1999 shocked the nation, leaving the press, public and police united in disbelief.

One of the biggest homicide investigations in British history – finally resulting in a conviction one year after her murder, only to be overturned seven years on – remains unsolved to this day.

Her brother, Nigel Dando, has told Sky News he believes it was “a random killing” carried out by a stranger, and that the presenter “was just in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Speaking ahead of a new Netflix documentary, looking into the murder and resulting police investigation, Mr Dando said that even all these years after his sister’s death, he is hopeful “the killer is out there watching” and could “come forward… to confess what they’ve done and get it off their chest”.

(R-L): Jill Dando, with her father Jack and brother Nigel
Image:
(R-L): Jill Dando, with her father Jack and brother Nigel

‘It’s a heck of a story’

Receiving news of the death of a loved one is hard – and all the more so when that death is sudden and violent.

Mr Dando says he hadn’t seen Jill for around three weeks before her death, but then received a phone call telling him his sister had been killed.

He says: “Within a couple of minutes, really, of hearing that Jill had died, half of my brain wanted to grieve for her loss and be close to my dad… He was in his eighties and not in the best of health. So, you had the family side of things.”

However, as a fellow journalist, Mr Dando also had a second part of his mind clicking into gear.

He goes on: “But, you know, one of the leading TV celebrities in this country gunned down on her own doorstep. It’s going to… It’s a heck of a story. And you kind of knew what was going to come down the line.

“I was trying to prepare myself to deal with that, knowing that you had to deal with the media. But trying to protect my dad from any excesses of it.”

It is of course that same power of the story that attracted true crime producer Emma Cooper to the case, and she would go on to spend over a year heading up the three-part documentary.

She explains: “An act that violent with a gun happening in an area of London, that would be outlandish now in 2023. So, to look back at that happening at that time is extraordinary.”

But she says it was also key to remember the person at the heart of the story: “It was very important to all of us that Jill was very present in the series and that we reminded people who knew her and remember her. And also [it was important] we brought it to a new audience of young people who don’t necessarily know about Jill and don’t necessarily know what happened to her and what a huge part she was in all of our lives.”

Pic: South Coast Press/Shutterstock
Image:
Pic: South Coast Press/Shutterstock

Who was Jill Dando?

Born in the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, Dando’s first job was as a trainee with her local weekly newspaper, the Weston Mercury, where her father and brother also worked.

Quickly progressing from print journalism to television, her talent paired with a girl-next-door persona saw her rise through the ranks of regional shows to national TV, going on to present Holiday, the Six O’ Clock News and Crimewatch.

Just two years before her death, she was voted BBC personality of the year.

On 26 April 1999 she was shot dead outside her home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham, southwest London. She had been due to present the Six O’ Clock News the following evening.

Pic: Nick Scott Archive/Alamy
Image:
Pic: Nick Scott Archive/Alamy

The many theories about Jill’s killer

One of the theories of a possible motive behind her killing, was that her presenting role on Crimewatch had made her vulnerable to criminals who might bear a grudge against her for her part in bringing them down.

Another was that a Serbian assassin could have killed her, in revenge for NATO bombing, after seeing her front an appeal for aid for Kosovar Albanian refugees.

However, Mr Dando doesn’t believe such theories stand up to robust investigation, calling them “interesting lines of inquiry” but which “never went anywhere”.

Of the Crimewatch connection he says “there was no evidence, it was just someone jumping on the bandwagon”.

And of the theory of links to Serbian mafia – Mr Dando says there was “no real evidence of a Serbian hitman”.

But he does have his own thoughts about who could have been behind his sister’s death.

“My theory before this happened and that’s been reinforced since by watching this documentary, is that Jill was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that somebody walking down the street, holding a gun for whatever reason, spotted her, either knowing her or not knowing who she was, and shot her dead.”

Mr Dando adds that some of the “theories would make great stories in fiction, but… There’s no line that really holds a huge amount of water apart from you know, a random killing, which I think it was.”

Barry George. Pic: Undated police handout
Image:
Barry George. Pic: Undated police handout

Who is Barry George, and how does he fit into the case?

Local man, Barry George, who had previous convictions and a history of stalking women, was arrested for Jill’s murder almost a year after her death, and later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr George spent seven years in jail, but was later acquitted due to unreliable forensic evidence, leaving the case again unsolved.

Speaking about Mr George’s original conviction, Mr Dando says: “At the time I thought that the police had got the right person, and a jury agreed with that sentiment because he was obviously found guilty and jailed for life. But the legal system moves on.”

But Mr Dando does have one concern – that Mr George chose not to give evidence, at either his trial or re-trial.

Mr Dando says: “I would just liked to have seen him tell a jury exactly what he was doing on that day, because he’s never actually explained where he was. It’s all a bit jumbled up. It would have been interesting to have heard him explain where he was, and for him to have been cross-examined about his movements on that day.”

While the conviction against Mr George was quashed, he has been unsuccessful in his attempts to gain compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

Mr George is also a contributor to the Netflix documentary.

Executive producer Emma Cooper says she felt it was vital to have Mr George’s side of the story in the film, to present “as clear of a rounded picture of all the events as possible from as many different perspectives as possible”.

In the documentary, she asks Mr George outright, “Did you kill Jill Dando,” to which Mr George answers, “No”.

She says: “I thought it was important to ask, I thought that the audience would expect that of us to ask him a straight question. And so, we did.”

Pic: Michael Fresco/Evening Standard/Shutterstock
Image:
Pic: Michael Fresco/Evening Standard/Shutterstock

One of the biggest homicide investigations in British history

Mr Dando says he bears no anger towards the police over the lack of a conviction, calling the investigation “a difficult job” and adding: “I don’t have any negative feelings towards the police at all with their inquiries. I didn’t at the time, and as the years have gone on, I don’t.”

As the documentary shows, while Dando’s fame ensured that news of her murder travelled far and wide, it also played a part in hindering the investigation.

Mr Dando says officers were inundated with people trying to “do the right thing” by offering up information, and the result was an avalanche of tips “overwhelming all the potential lines of inquiry that came in”.

While the investigation was moved into “an inactive phase” nine years ago, Met Police told Sky News detectives “would consider any new information provided” in a bid “to determine whether it represented a new and realistic line of enquiry”.

Offering further information around the combined reward of £250,000 which was initially offered for information leading to an arrest, the Met told Sky News, “Any discussion about any reward would have to take place in the event that new information came to light.”

BBC TV presenter Jill Dando at Television Centre. 26/4/99: Jill Dando was shot and killed outside her home in Fulham, South West London. 07/06/01: The Old Bailey jury in the Dando murder trial announced its verdict of guilty.  * ...in the trial of suspect suspect Barry George, 41, unemployed from  south west London. George had denied murdering Miss Dando on April 26 1999. The TV presenter was shot through the head in the doorway of her home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham.

Jill’s legacy

Mr Dando says he is still approached in public – in the supermarket, at the carpet shop – by people “wanting to talk about Jill” and “how they remembered her”.

Jill was just 37 when she died, and five months away from getting married to her fiance, Alan Farthing.

Mr Dando says: “She was on an upward trajectory… Whether family life would have taken over from her broadcasting career or whether she could have juggled the two. Who knows what would have happened, where she would have been today.”

Pic: ANL/Shutterstock
Image:
Jill with fellow Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross. Pic: ANL/Shutterstock

Will we ever get an answer?

Ms Cooper says: “It’s really important for a shared audience to look back at that and for new people to discover what happened. And for older people to be reminded about it and to be reminded of the fact that it is still unsolved.”

The film documents aspects of the investigation that most – including some of Jill’s family – have never heard about before.

Other contributors to the film include Dando’s ex-partner, television producer Bob Wheaton, her agent Jon Roseman, and former detective chief inspector Hamish Campbell who headed up the murder case.

Ms Cooper says: “If somebody could see something that could jog a memory that has been unclaimed for 20 years, that would be an amazing outcome for all of us.”

Mr Dando too, has hopes – even if they are vanishingly slim – that the documentary could lead to some sort of answer for himself, and all those who loved and knew Jill.

He says: “We’ve lived for 24 years not knowing who did it, but maybe more importantly, why they did it. Why would you go up to a stranger and do what you did? I just don’t know. So, it would be nice to have some closure from that point of view to know why that person pulled the trigger.”

He goes on: “Maybe even the killer is out there watching this documentary and their conscience, even after all these years may be pricked and it may just encourage them to come forward to confess what they’ve done and get it off their chest.”

Who Killed Jill Dando? is released on Netflix on Tuesday 26 September.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Jonathan Pie: British satirist’s free speech warning to UK after Jimmy Kimmel show taken off air

Published

on

By

Jonathan Pie: British satirist's free speech warning to UK after Jimmy Kimmel show taken off air

The UK has to be “careful” and protect free speech as debate becomes “more and more toxic” on both sides of the Atlantic, a British satirist has said.

Tom Walker, better known as the ranting fictitious newsreader Jonathan Pie, has issued the warning after US talk show Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air for comments he made following the death of Charlie Kirk.

Speaking to Niall Paterson on the Sky News Daily podcast, Walker said he believes he wouldn’t be able work as a satirist in America today as the Trump administration appears to be cracking down on those who speak out against him.

Tom Walker as his satirical creation. Pic: Jonathan Pie
Image:
Tom Walker as his satirical creation. Pic: Jonathan Pie

He added: “I genuinely don’t think I would be allowed into the country. That might sound dramatic, but they go through your social media posts. I think Trump thinks that not agreeing with him is anti-American, whereas it’s not, it’s anti-Trump, it’s anti-Republican. So a lot of my posts would be seen as anti-American.”

Walker went viral in 2016 after posting a clip of Jonathan Pie passionately blaming “the left” for Mr Trump’s victory in the US election the same year.

The comedian argued that left-leaning people had “lost the art” of engaging with anyone with a different opinion to them and urged them to “stop thinking everyone who disagrees with you is evil, racist or sexist or stupid”.

Asked by Niall if he believes Kimmel, who has a long history of speaking out against Mr Trump, is partly responsible for the rise of the populist president, Walker said: “No, I don’t… Most of these late-night hosts are left-leaning and Trump is an own goal for satire.

More on Jimmy Kimmel

“I don’t think there was much that Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue the other day that was anywhere near as divisive as the rhetoric coming from Donald Trump or (vice president) JD Vance, so there is an inherent hypocrisy there.”

However, Walker believes “right-wingers” are not the only reason free speech is under a “huge amount of threat in America”.

The satirist, who counts himself as being left-wing, continued: “I think the left have enabled a culture where people don’t feel that they’re able to express their views.

“The left-wing were the flag-bearers of cancel culture. And now it’s sort of coming back to bite us in a terrifying way.”

Kimmel was taken off air months after US talk show host Stephen Colbert had his show cancelled – something his fans have attributed to his criticism of Mr Trump.

Read more:
Ted Cruz blasts ‘mafioso’ threats over Kimmel suspension

What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?
US talk show hosts react to Jimmy Kimmel cancellation

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

US talk show titans speak out

Meanwhile, the US president appeared to encourage NBC to cancel the talk shows of Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers in a Truth Social post on Thursday. Both presenters are known to have made jokes about Mr Trump in the past.

Asked whether the UK should be worried about free speech apparently being targeted in the UK in a similar way, Walker said: “I think that there are issues of free speech in this country. I don’t think it is quite as bad as what’s happening in America, but we have to be careful. The debate on both sides of the Atlantic is becoming more and more toxic, I think. And it’s divide and conquer. ‘You’re either with me or you’re against me’. And I think both sides have to take some responsibility for that.”

Walker pointed out that when he posted a satirical video on X called “The Death Of Discourse” in relation to the Kirk assassination, he was attacked by social media users on both the left and right of politics.

He added: “I think that’s the problem… We have forgotten how to talk and listen to people that we fundamentally disagree with.”

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Canada bans Kneecap from entering country as rappers threaten legal action

Published

on

By

Canada bans Kneecap from entering country as rappers threaten legal action

Canada has banned rap group Kneecap from entering the country for allegedly ‘glorifying terrorist organisations’.

The trio, who were due to play four concerts in Canada next month, were accused of promoting hate and violence by the country’s Liberal government.

Kneecap have subsequently threatened Canada’s parliamentary secretary for combatting crime, Vince Gasparro, with legal action.

Mr Gasparro said in a video on X that members of the group had been deemed ineligible to enter the country because of actions and statements that violate Canadian law.

He also accused the group of amplifying political violence and publicly displaying support for terrorist organisations, including Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and Hamas in Gaza.

Mr Chara accused Israel of committing war crimes at Glastonbury. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Mr Chara accused Israel of committing war crimes at Glastonbury. Pic: Reuters

Mr Gasparro said: “Advocating for political violence, glorifying terrorist organisations and displaying hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community are not protected forms of expression and will not be tolerated by our government.”

Commenting on the X post, Kneecap said: “Your comments about us are wholly untrue and deeply malicious. We will not accept it.

More from World

“No member of Kneecap has been convicted of ANY crime in ANY country EVER.”

The band added: “We have today instructed our lawyers to initiate action against you. We will be relentless in defending ourselves against baseless accusations to silence our opposition to genocide being committed by Israel.

“When we beat you in court, which we will, we will donate every cent to assist some of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.”

Canada’s immigration ministry did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

This is the latest in a series of controversial incidents involving the Belfast-based band.

During the Glastonbury Festival in June, Kneecap‘s frontman Liam Og O Hannaidh, known by his stage name Mo Chara, accused Israel of committing war crimes. Israel has denied the accusation.

Kneecap were due to play four shows next month. Pic: PA
Image:
Kneecap were due to play four shows next month. Pic: PA

Kneecap have previously said its members do not support Hamas or Hezbollah.

They added that they condemn “all attacks on civilians, always”.

In May, Mr Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence in Britain after allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah during a London gig in November 2024.

He denied the allegation, saying it was thrown on stage during the performance.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case later this month.

Kneecap were scheduled to play four Canadian concerts in October, two in Toronto and two in Vancouver, according to its website.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

‘Bad boys of magic’ Penn & Teller inducted into Magic Circle after 50 years of being barred

Published

on

By

'Bad boys of magic' Penn & Teller inducted into Magic Circle after 50 years of being barred

Penn & Teller have finally been inducted into the Magic Circle – after 50 years of being denied membership.

Rock stars of magic, Penn & Teller found fame in the mid-1980s, earning them fans on both sides of the pond, but their habit of explaining their tricks to the audience also earned them magical disapproval.

The duo were famously barred from the Magic Circle for exposing their tricks as part of their act, flying in the face of the organisation’s belief in keeping magical secrets from the public.

Formed in 1905, the Magic Circle currently has around 1,750 members from around the world, all of whom have passed an exam to join.

Penn & Teller’s famous fans include the King (who is also a Magic Circle member), while their critics include Donald Trump, who’s said to have put them on his “enemies list”.

The presentation took place on Friday, on the steps of the Palladium, in London’s West End, where Penn & Teller are currently performing their 50th Anniversary residency.

More from Ents & Arts

Magic Circle president Marvin Berglas said: “In the past they may have been known as the bad boys of magic with their sometimes controversial and hard-hitting choice of material.

“There was criticism from some in the past for their apparently exposing magical secrets. However, for those in the know, the real magic was always with their original and artistic performances whereby audiences thought they understood how something may have been done only to be utterly amazed with an entirely different original method.

“For this – Penn and Teller are the kings. These days The Magic Circle is the place for a truly diverse group of creative minds and talented performers.”

Penn & Teller in 2010. Pic: AP
Image:
Penn & Teller in 2010. Pic: AP

Penn & Teller said: “We’re honoured that the Magic Circle has invited us to be members, after we’ve violated its cardinal rule – don’t give away secrets – for five decades. This is going to be fun.”

Penn & Teller first performed together in August 1975, breaking into the mainstream in the mid-1980s, and touring with critically acclaimed shows throughout the 1990s and achieving TV success in both the US and UK.

They will be performing their 50th Anniversary Tour at The London Palladium until Wednesday, 24 September.

Continue Reading

Trending