A neighbour has told an Old Bailey jury she saw the man accused of Jill Dando's murder outside the BBC presenter's house hours before she was killed.

Susan Mayes, who lived on the same west London street as Ms Dando, said she was "certain" that it was Barry George whom she spotted acting in a "strange way".

"I thought at the time this man definitely does not want to On Farewell Tour, Conciliatory Bush Praises US-Europe Ties ...
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Mr George, 48, denies murdering Ms Dando on 26 April 1999.

He was originally tried for her killing in 2001.

'Clocked him'

The Crimewatch host, 37, was shot through the head on her doorstep at 29 Gowan Avenue in Fulham, west London.

Ms Mayes told the court that, on the morning of Ms Dando's death, she saw a man standing by a maroon car which had been double-parked.

She recalled how she identified Mr George in a video parade 18 months later as the man she had seen in the street.

"I was certain that was the person I had seen," she said.

Ms Mayes said she had left her house for work when she noticed Mr George parked outside number 28, looking over the road at the odd-numbered buildings.

Having seen a man behaving suspiciously outside her own home two days previously, she made sure that she "clocked him" for five seconds.

"As I walked nearer to him, he started cleaning his windscreen in a strange way," she told the jury.

"He was looking towards the ground as I drew alongside him.

"I thought at the time: 'This man definitely does not want to be seen.'"

She was asked by the defence whether she might have been mistaken, perhaps having seen Mr George walking around Fulham.

"I am satisfied he was the person I saw that morning," Ms Mayes replied.

"I do not believe I have ever seen him in the neighbourhood."

The trial continues.

(BBC)

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