Court of appeal: Probative value of firearms discharge residue evidence: Barry George v R [2007] EWCA Crim 2722

The appellant (G) had been convicted of the murder of TV presenter JillDando in 2001 following her death in April 1999 by a single shot to thehead. The forensic evidence presented to the jury showed that a firearmhad been pressed to her head and discharged and firearm dischargeresidue (FDR) had been found in the bullet and cartridge case and in thevictim’s hair. A year after the shooting, a single particle of FDR consistentwith this was said to have been found in G’s coat pocket. At trial theprosecution relied on four categories of evidence: (1) identificationevidence linking Barry George to the scene of the murder four hours before the fatal shooting took place, and corroborative evidence which demonstrated such similar features to this identification that it justified the conclusion that he was at the scene at the time the murder was committed; (2) repeated lies at interview as to his knowledge of and interest in the victim; (3) allegations that he had attempted to create a false alibi for the time of the shooting and (4) the similarity of the FDR found in G’s pocket to the FDR found in the victim’s head wound. G admitted to owning the coat.