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Barry George loses compensation case Barry George loses compensation case
(35 minutes later)
Barry George, who was wrongly convicted of the murder of BBC TV presenter Jill Dando, has lost a bid to win compensation. Barry George, wrongly convicted of the murder of BBC TV presenter Jill Dando, has lost a bid for compensation.
Mr George, who spent eight years in prison before being cleared after a retrial, was one of five example cases heard at the High Court. Two High Court judges said he failed to meet the test which would entitle him to compensation.
The cases will help set the boundaries of what amounts to a miscarriage of justice meriting compensation. Three other people whose convictions had been quashed also failed to win compensation.
It follows a ruling at the Supreme Court in 2011. But one man, Ian Lawless, who spent eight years in prison for murder before being freed by the Court of Appeal in 2009, was successful.
Nine Supreme Court judges considered appeals by three men, not including Mr George, who said they had wrongly been refused compensation after their murder convictions were overturned. He will now have his case reconsidered.
Their judgement in those cases redefined the legal meaning of what amounted to a miscarriage of justice after debating when compensation should be awarded to wrongly-convicted people. Previously, compensation was only awarded for a miscarriage of justice if a claimant could effectively prove they were innocent.
Mr George's claim for damages for lost earnings and wrongful imprisonment was initially rejected by the Ministry of Justice, on the basis he was not legally entitled to compensation. But a Supreme Court hearing in 2011 widened this by saying that if a person could prove that no set of circumstances could possibly lead to their conviction by a jury, they could get compensation.
One of the men won his challenge at this latest High Court hearing. Ian Lawless, who spent eight years in prison for murder before being freed by the Court of Appeal in 2009, will now have his case reconsidered. In effect saying that they did not have to prove they were innocent, but did have to prove that any jury which would consider their case would not convict them.
The judges at the High Court ruled that Mr George's case did not pass this second test.