Philip Joseph found Barry George far more competent than he made himself out to be to.
A media article stated;
Dr Philip Joseph, another leading psychiatrist who was called by the prosecution, said George was “far more competent” than tests would suggest and capable of lying in police interviews.
While some of his behaviour could be attributed to his epilepsy and cognitive impairment, his stalking of women appeared to stem from an “intense anger” caused by rejection, Dr Joseph said.
Killer Barry George’s uncle Mike Burke stated in his book;
Belmarsh is a holding prison for prisoners awaiting trial so shortly after his conviction Barry was moved to HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire.
Mike Burke
2002 – HMP Whitemoor
Referring to the 7th April 2002 Mike Burke stated;
Uncle Mike Burke
On Sunday April 7th I heard on BBC Radio 4 news that the News of the World had a cassette tape of Barry apparently confessing to the murder.
I bought the paper and read the story which I found difficult to believe.
It alleged that Barry said to other prisoners ‘…because I was the man who committed the murder’.
I phoned the number given and listened to the tape recording which sounded like Barry though the sound quality was very poor.
I had warned him that something like that could happen.
The source of the tape was a by then deported Polish thief who claimed he used his tape recorder to record fellow prisoner’s music.
Mike Burke from his book Mike’s Story: The Battle to Clear Barry George of the Murder of Jill Dando first published in June 2011
Excerpts from the Irish Examiner read;
Detectives are set to study a tape on which Barry George is claimed to admit murdering Jill Dando.
The News of the World reports George was recorded by a fellow prisoner during a conversation.
George was convicted last year of the BBC presenter’s murder but has always maintained his innocence.
His appeal against the conviction will be heard soon.
On the tape a voice asks:
“Why did the police arrest you in the first place, do you think?”
Another voice, said to be George’s, replies:
“Why? Because I, I was the person who committed the murder.”
There is no confirmation yet that the voice is George’s and the dialogue on the tape is muffled, indistinct and even inaudible in parts.
It is also said to contain an involved discussion about the timing of alibis and the nature of the trial judge’s directions to the jury, reports The News of the World .
The tape is said to have been recorded accidentally by Rafal Gutarewicz while he and George were in Whitemoor Prison.
He was trying to record himself playing a keyboard and accidentally left the tape running.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said:
“We will study any potential new evidence carefully. We are not prepared to discuss the issue further while the case is subject to appeal.”
Innocence Fraud Promoter & Groomer Michael Naughton, Russ Spring & Psychopathic Killer Warren Slaney
Gary Thompson (32) and John Weston (29) were shot and killed on the 10th of October 1990 in the front garden of the house Gary Thompson lived in with his wife and children in Oadby, Leicestershire.
Gary Thompson
John Weston
Gary Thompson ran a successful hot dog and burger van fast food business and his friend John Weston worked alongside him.
Psychopath Warren Slaney and Terence Burke stole up to £60,000 of bank holidays takings from Gary Thompson’s Bentley motor vehicle after shooting dead Gary Thompson and John Weston.
Innocence fraud killer Warren Slaney’s co-defendant Terence Burke attempted to pretend that victim Gary Thompson “was in on the raid” as part of an insurance scam.
However it was established Gary Thompson was uninsured.
In 2000 killer Warren Slaney made allegations here that staff at Woodhill prison had “attacked” him “atleastsixtimes” and in 2011 Private Eye magazine published an article headed The Hot Dog Hitin which it stated;
Slaney’s case has now been taken up by the University of Bristol Innocence Project where law students investigate claims of injustice
Excerpt from a Private Eye magazine article headed The Hot Dog Hit dated 11th September 2011
Another article on psychopathic innocence fraud killer Warren Slaney stated;
The campaign has the support of Dr Michael Naughton of The Innocence Project based at Bristol University who showed that miscarriages of justice were costing the public purse as much as £200m a year in 2002.
Someone called Russ Spring was also involved in the innocence fraud public relations spin campaign and was referred to in 2005 here as a “campaign support worker for the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation”.
Russ Spring from Mojo said: “We feel that the scale of the inquiry that is needed into his conviction really is beyond the scope of the Criminal Case Review Commission and they need to appoint an independent outside investigators.
Referring to just after killer Barry George was released from custody in 2008 following his retrial, his uncle Mike Burke stated;
It was now open season on Barry and the press set about destroying any hope of him settling into any kind of normal life in his home city of London.
I watched dispassionately as his reputation, such as it was, nosedived over the last days of 2008 under a welter of tabloid fantasy.
They ran stories on what he ate, what bookshops he visited, his temporary accommodation.
They claimed incorrectly that he was stalking a nurse, that Sky’s Kay Burley was frightened sick by him, that he was interested in Cheryl Cole of X Factor, that he was involved with the partner of a convicted killer etc.
To make things even better a ‘spokesman’ for him allegedly confirmed some of those manufactured stories.
Pat Reynolds said to me one day: ‘with friends like those who needs enemies?’
Excerpts from Mike Burke’s book Mike’s Story: The Battle to Clear Barry George of the Murder of Jill Dando first published in June 2011
The “spokesman” Mike Burke referred to was Surjit Singh Clair.
Read more on Surjit Singh Clair here, here and here.
Referring to Surjit Singh Clair and some of the various news stories regarding her psychopathic killer brother, Michelle Diskin Bates stated;
It was arranged that Barry would travel from London to Birmingham, where he would be met by volunteers from MOJO.
They would take him to a secret location and keep him safe.
In two days, he and a volunteer, Russ, would meet me in Leeds.
When Russ returned to his family, Surj would take over, taking Barry along to a meeting he was having at another hotel.
We really hoped that all of these precautions would mean Barry would not appear in any more disgraceful headlines, but no.
They were being followed everywhere, even camping outside of Russ’ home looking for Barry, though they were not there.
Russ’ wife and family felt intimidated by the media’s presence.
The only way they could have known about Russ was if our phones were being monitored.
Of course, this was all before the Leveson Inquiry and the News of the World’s well-earned downfall. Story upon story was published.
There was one story that alleged Barry had terrified a nurse in the hospital carpark, and that he was in an agitated state demanding drugs at the hospital.
The truth was that he was with Russ and they had gone to A&E to replace Barry’s epilepsy meds, as he’d had to abandon his supply at the flat when the police came.
Another story alleged that he was now obsessed with Cheryl Cole as well as Kay Burley, and that he was dating a convict’s wife, the person Surj went to a business meeting with!
Statements by Michelle Diskin Bates from her book Stand Against Injustice published in October 2018
Surjit Singh Clair accompanied Pam Wight, who had been groomed, conned and exploited by serial killer Steve Wight, during her February 2008 Sky news interview with Kay Burley.
It was during this interview where Kay Burley asked Pam Wright;
Do you think if you’d had a better sex life, he wouldn’t have done this?
Kay Burley – February 2008
A December 2008 media article stated of killer Barry George;
He is also reportedly besotted with Pam Wright, the fiancée of Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright.
On the day he murdered Jill Dando, killer Barry George was seen by Julia Moorhouse at around 12.33pm.
Julia Moorhouse said that Barry George had crossed the road to talk to her around an hour after he had committed his murder.
Excerpts from a Guardian article read;
Mrs Moorhouse said she had been standing on the corner of a street close to the murder scene at 12.30pm on April 26 when a man approached and started talking to her about the helicopters hovering overhead.
“He said they were police helicopters. He gave details of what kind they were. He appeared to have technical knowledge… I turned to go. He came with me. I did not expect that.
“The whole situation struck me as slightly odd. He mentioned the Territorial Army. I think he may have said he had done training or was associated with it… either as an instructor or something”
Uncle Mike Burke referred to a conversation he had with his nephew Barry George’s barristers William Clegg and Jeffrey Samuels and stated;
Uncle Mike Burke
Outside the courtroom I spoke with Mr Clegg and Samuels.
We discussed Julia Moorhouse, the women who described being spoken to by a man who could have been Barry approx an hour after Jill Dando’s murder.
I felt her description of the man was too like Barry to be coincidence, and as she reported the meeting to the police straight away on that day it sounded genuine.
We agreed the man she met probably was Barry but disagreed as to whether they met before of after he had visited HAFAD.
The Crown claimed before, which would support their case
Excerpts from Mike Burke’s book Mike’s Story: The Battle to Clear Barry George of the Jill Dando Murder first published in June 2011– Source here
Barry George admitted he had spoken to Julia Moorhouse when he spoke to the media following his retrial.
As previously referred to in Part 18 of this blog series here, Mike Burke also highlighted this fact stating;
In their ‘World Exclusive’ he was quoted as saying ‘After leaving HAFAD I bumped into a woman who was later a prosecution witness and said I was stalking her…That was at 12.33pm…’
That was obviously a reference to Julia Moorhouse who he had always denied meeting.
Excerpts by uncle Mike Burke
One Of Umpteen Innocence Fraud Red Flags
Michelle Diskin Bates chose to ghost Julia Moorhouse and her evidence from a book she had published in 2018, preferring instead to refer to the actress Julia Roberts.
Yet she repeatedly claims;
When he was released from custody in August 2008, Barry George publicly stated he had met with Julia Moorhouse. He stated;
I walked with her for a bit and, from her perspective, maybe it was unwanted attention. But she didn’t make that clear.
It didn’t seem like she was telling me to go away.
If she’d told me to leave I’d have done so straight away.
That was at 12.33pm.
I know because just a minute before I’d made a call from my mobile to check how much credit I had left.
Statements by Barry George on 1st August 2008 – Source here
Michael Naughton, who was involved in the innocence fraud of killer Simon Hall, wrote the foreword for Michelle Diskin Bates.
Did Michelle Diskin Bates Really “Reach Out” To Killer Raphael Rowe Like He Claimed?
During Part 3 of the Who Killed Jill Dando? docu series, innocence fraud killer Raphael Rowe stated (at around 38:23);
A few years after Barry George was convicted his sister reached out to me
She was asking if I could help highlight the fact that her brother was wrongly in prison
I was at BBC Panorama at the time
But when I was 20 years old I was wrongly convicted of murder and a series of robberies
I spent the next 12 years in maximum security prisons
And Michelle was convincing, you know she sounded like my sister did when my sister was saying ‘help my brother’
Statements by Raphael Rowe via Part 3 of Who Killed Jill Dando?
Scammer Michelle Diskin Bates has made no mention over the years of having reached out to Raphael Rowe.
Why Did Raphael Rowe Omit To Mention Scott Lomax & Uncle Mike Burke?
However Michelle’s and killer Barry George’s uncle Mike Burke (also spelt Bourke) told a different story to the one told by Raphael Rowe.
Mike Burke made the following statements in a book, which detailed his involvement with “Justice4Barry” and Raphael Rowe;
2004 On September 5th I read an e-mail from Scott Lomax telling me about a BBC reporter, Raphael Rowe, who hoped to make a programme about Barry.
I made some discreet enquiries and I was told that ‘He is a good guy, genuine’.
I was happy with that recommendation and decided to contact him.
I phoned him the next day and we had a good long chat.
He was quite up to speed having looked at the websites and appeal court links.
I agreed to contact Barry and his solicitor to see if they might cooperate with a TV programme.
I later spoke to Pat Reynolds who was very enthusiastic when I mentioned Panorama, saying that Panorama could be seen as a turning point, the beginning of the end.
I next visited Barry on Friday October 8th.
I was suffering from a heavy cold, and family tensions were again running high, otherwise the visit went ok.
I got fish and chips and had quiet a miserable evening. ‘Why the hell am I doing this?’ I wondered, not for the first time.
The next day I went to a National Miscarriage of Justice meeting at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square.
When I arrived there were a number of people waiting outside.
I was a little early and waited some distance from them.
A good looking young woman approached me and struck up a conversation.
She quickly guessed that I was connected to Barry, which made me suspect that she was a reporter.
She told me that her husband was in prison for murder but that he was innocent.
To make it better she said that he allegedly had eaten the body of the victim.
I didn’t quite know what to make of her.
I met Hazel from MOJO and we chatted awhile.
The Hall opened and we went in.
I got a cup of tea and then I met Raphael Rowe.
Scott Lomax texted me to say that he had arrived.
He brought along copies of his book on Barry.
It was interesting to meet Scott and Raphael and I hoped meeting Raphael would help to maintain his interest in the case.
2005 I drove to London on Monday the 31st.
I had hoped to visit Barry on Tuesday and Margaret had promised that she would book it in good time.
But she waited until Monday before phoning to book the visit.
She then discovered that there were no visits allowed on Tuesdays.
I was going to a public meeting in the House of Commons on Wednesday and so I had to wait until Thursday to visit him which lost me another precious day’s holiday.
It was a short visit as his solicitor was also due to visit.
Barry was somewhat stressed out as a result.
He was concerned again that some of us would speak to the press.
He got agitated when I told him that Raphael Rowe was interested in the Cutting Edge video, which I had in fact already loaned to Raphael along with a video of the trial reconstruction.
He threatened to sue anybody who might use the Cutting Edge video.
I e-mailed Raphael Rowe asking about news on a documentary.
He replied that Barry and his solicitor had made demands that Raphael could not comply with.
Supporting Barry was often a struggle against the odds, as he seemed to see problems with everything we did or tried to do for him.
I felt that a good opportunity was in danger of being lost and I decided to keep in touch with Raphael in the hope of some development.
July 8th 2006
I recently had to have the hard drive replaced on my computer which cost me 205 Euro.
David James Smith is due to visit Barry early this month if all goes well.
Raphael Rowe is in America researching for a BBC documentary on Barry. He is consulting experts with regard to the single particle.
He phoned me up last week seeking Michelle’s details which he had mislaid.
On July 20 Andy Gardner phoned me. He told me he was now a freelance reporter.
Later Margaret phoned to say that the VO had arrived.
The next day I got a call from a Mail on Sunday reporter, Mr Rice who asked if he came to Ireland would I speak to him.
I agreed and he said he would be over the next day.
I then became a little concerned as I was due to visit Barry and wondered if speaking to the reporter would cause another row.
Fortunately he had also called to Michelle which I thought might take the flak off me.
The report appeared on Sunday and referred to the Panorama programme which was being made by Raphael Rowe.
It mentioned two jurors who were having doubts and who apparently were willing to appear on the programme.
It also mentioned that FBI agents criticised the Met Polices handling of the single particle evidence.
On Monday Raphael asked me not to discuss the programme with MOJO.
I replied that I had fallen out with them in 2001 due to the News of the World article.
But I feared that a last minute hitch might have negative consequences and so I texted Michelle asking her to urge discretion on MOJO.
She replied that they hadn’t known about the programme.
On Thursday August 3rd I again went to London.
It was a good trip, uneventful except for a poor man who finally cracked after over three hours in the ‘quiet’ coach listening to a hyperactive loud child.
On Friday I went to Mario’s café for breakfast.
Later Raphael Rowe phoned Margaret and I spoke to him.
Unknown to us on September 4th a Forensic Science Service report prepared for the CCRC dismissed the FDR evidence which dammed Barry as inconclusive.
In their opinion it provided no support for the prosecutions case that Barry had killed Jill Dando.
It would be another year before we became aware of that.
Raphael Rowe phoned me to say that the Panorama-George programme would be broadcast on September 5th.
I took a day’s holiday to watch it because as luck would have it I was on a late shift and I feared I would not get to see it.
At 21.00 I settled down to watch Panorama.
It began with Raphael saying to Barry over Margaret’s telephone ‘so you didn’t kill Jill?’ …’course not, replied a surprised Barry.
Then the photo of Barry which I got taken at Whitemoor was shown alongside the prison envelope in which it was returned to me after the prison refused to allow Barry to have it.
CCTV footage of Jill Dando on her last journey and a clip of 29 Gowan Avenue was shown, and Helen Doble’s 999 phone call was played.
Mike Burke – Uncle of killer Barry George & Michelle Diskin Bates
PS;
Raphael Rowe did NOT “clear” his name nor has he ever proved he was not responsible for the violent crimes for which he was originally convicted of committing! Read more here
1999 Image of replacement front door to Jill Dando’s home, following removal of the original door for forensic examination
Killer Barry George’s murder of Jill Dando took place on the 26th of April 1999 on the doorstep of Jill Dando’s home in Gowan avenue in Fulham, Southwest London.
It is thought predatory stalker, sexual deviant and assassin Barry George laid in wait for Jill Dando to return home before shooting Jill once in the head at around 11:32am.
Born on April 15 1960, at Hammersmith hospital, Barry Michael George was the youngest of his parents three children, and the only son.
Alfred, his father, was a lorry driver and special constable in the Metropolitan police.
He had met George’s mother Margaret in London and married her in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in July 1954, when she was 18.
George’s childhood was not easy.
His parents’ marriage was unstable and led to bitter divorce in December 1973, when Barry was 13.
Even then George had a fertile imagination, weaving fantasies around his favourite programme, Thunderbirds, which irritated his father, who believed his son was an “oddball” who had been “born naive”.
Writer David James Smith stated in his book All About Jill, which was published in 2002, that “Alfred had been a bus driver in those days and in addition to being a prison officer, was also a fire officer and a special constable. He had been in the Army on National Service after the war”.
Mike Burke (Bourke) Barry George’s Uncle
Margaret (Barry George’s mother)
Uncle Mike Burke, a brother of Margaret’s, stated in his book;
I first met Barry in 1964 when Margaret brought him from London to the family house in Limerick for a holiday.
He was four and I was nine.
I thought that he was very spoilt by Margaret but he was an only son.
I next met him in 1973, when I moved to London.
Barry was now thirteen, his parent’s marriage had ended and his father had left for a new family.
He was attending Heathermount School ‘for difficult boys’, but would come home to his mother for holidays.
His sister Susan was also living at home in East Acton.
Barry and Susan were always bickering, as kids do. ‘
The terrible twins’ we would call them, though Susan was two years older than Barry.
He was very quiet at first, withdrawn, but he slowly came out of his shell.
I fixed up his old fashioned ‘High Nellie’ bicycle, and while the other kids in the street had modern choppers Barry could be seen doing quite impressive wheelies up and down Fitzneal Street.
He liked my David Bowie records, and my Honda CB 250cc motorbike.
‘Mike the bike’ he would call me.
He showed me around London, and he was quite streetwise.
His sister Michelle lived in Barnes with her father and his new partner Barbara, or Babs and their fierce little Chiwawa dog which kept Michelle’s boyfriends at bay.
It was a friendly lively household which I visited a few times; taking along some of my LP’s which we would play.
In late August 1973 Michelle borrowed my suitcase, went to Ireland for a holiday, liked it and stayed ever since.
Barry missed his father and Michelle, some say that he felt abandoned.
One evening around midnight he still had not come home, and his mother asked me to make some checks.
I went around to the public phone box and phoned his father in Barnes, but I was told that Barry was not there.
I then phoned the police and explained the situation to them.
Some time later Barry and his father arrived at the house, and there followed an interesting conversation between both parents at the front door as they complimented each other with regard to their parenting skills.
One morning in the summer of 1974 we were having an argument, quite nasty I suppose, as teenagers can be.
As I was walking to the kitchen Barry seemed to come out of nowhere and floored me with a kick.
He had been hiding, waiting in an alcove for me.
I was winded, and Barry immediately bolted for the front door and was well away before I could catch him.
He did not return to the house until late in the evening.
He lived at home for a time after leaving school but could not get on with his stepdad Eddie who though being an honest hard worker found it difficult to tolerate young people.
Barry managed to persuade the council to house him and everybody was happy again.
In 1977 I took a temporary job as a Security Guard, working with a collection of Australian and New Zealand backpackers and ex Rhodesian and South African soldiers at the Earls Court motor show.
We worked in close cooperation with the police who would back us up if hostile members of the public ignored the instructions of us ‘Little Hitler’s’.
One of my main tasks involved guarding Sir Donald Campbell’s 400mph + Bluebird record setting car and the new Four Wheel Drive vehicles on which the gorgeous Woolworth girls would daintily sit to the song ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’, every 30 minutes.
I was sick of that song.
I would also check visitor’s bags and briefcases with a sniffer device for detecting explosives etc.
Barry thought it was hilarious that I, a ‘Paddy just off the boat’ was selected as one of the ‘guards tasked to keep the royal fans in check when Princess Margaret performed the official opening ceremony.
Looking back I also find it a little surprising but I guess the police would have checked us all out by then.
Excerpts by Mike Burke from Mike’s Story: The Battle to Clear Barry George of the Jill Dando Murder published in June 2011
Sister Michelle (Michealina) Diskin Bates Re-Writing History
Michelle Diskin Bates
Michelle Diskin Bates, who was mentioned in Part 19o here is the oldest sister of Barry George.
Michelle and Barry’s sister Susan, who was born on the 5th of February 1958, passed away at the age of 28 after apparently having “swallowed her tongue during an epileptic fit”.
Uncle Mike Burke omits any reference to the tragedy of his niece Susan’s passing from his book and Michelle Diskin Bates stated in her book that her sister Susan “..had died in 1987 in an epileptic seizure”.
While Michelle Diskin Bates did refer to having mourned the loss of a house she once lived in, in Creightonclose, White City, it is not known exactly what impact Susan’s passing had on either Michelle Diskin Bates or Barry George.
Although aunt Elizabeth did state “Barry never got over Susan’s death. He missed her terribly”.
Referring to killer Barry George, David James Smith wrote in his book on the passing of sister Susan Towler;
Susan later spent time in locked psychiatric wards.
She died in April 1986 when she choked after swallowing her tongue during a seizure, while in the early stages of pregnancy.
His sister Susan died in 1986 and his father returned from Australia for her funeral, which Barry did not attend.
His father had been home before for a couple of years and there had been sporadic contact between them, after no contact at all for eight years.
They had met at Michelle’s wedding in Ireland to which Barry had apparently hitchhiked.
Alfred had visited Barry while he was on remand in Brixton prison accused of rape and Barry had told him he had stopped when the girl said no.
His father terminated all contact with him again after that.
He didn’t want Barry around his daughters in his second family, he said.
He bumped into Barry in the street a couple of weeks after Susan’s funeral and noted the expensive looking camera around his sons neck.
Barry said he was keen on photography.
Barry had asked for some money, and his father had given him a fiver and they had parted.
They had not spoken again after that, although his father had written occasionally and sent birthday and Christmas cards.
Excerpts by David James Smith from his book All About Jill published in 2002
Why The Different Stories?
Michelle Diskin Bates told a different story to the story told by her uncle Mike Bourke regarding her father Alfred George and his partner Barbara/Babs.
Michelle Diskin Bates referred to living in Creighton Close in White City and Fitzneal Street in Shepherds Bush, but made no mention of Barnes.
Which is odd given the fact her uncle Mike Bourke made reference to his niece Michelle living “inBarnes with her father and his new partner Barbara”.
Barnes is a district in south London and part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Michelle Diskin Bates also didn’t refer to her uncle Mike’s previous statement on how Barry missed his father and Michelle. Nor did Michelle make any comment on Mike’s statement that Barry Georgehad felt abandoned.
Instead Michelle Diskin Bates story reads;
Mum and Dad separated acrimoniously in 1967, eventually divorcing in 1973.
I was twelve at the time of separation, and we children stayed with Mum in the flats in White City.
Excerpt by Michelle Diskin Bates from Stand Against Injustice (Published in October 2018)
It is not known exactly why Michelle Diskin Bates chose to go and live with her father Alfred George and his new partner Barbara.
It is also not known in what year exactly Michelle moved in with her father and his partner or for how long she lived with them.
However by August 1973, at 18 years of age, Michealina George, as she was called back then, moved to Ireland.
She stated in her October 2018 book;
Not having lived in the UK since 1973, I hadn’t really been following the case about the senseless murder of a much-loved TV presenter; it was a crime that had taken place in London and I’d felt somewhat removed from it.
Michelle Diskin Bates from her book Stand Against Injustice
Although recently, Michelle Diskin Bates claimed on one of her social media accounts that she “..arrived in Cork in 1974”;
A media article from 2001 read;
“I lived with him up until he was 13, when I moved to Ireland.
“There was nothing odd or different about him then.
It wasn’t until I was older I realised Barry had disabilities.
“His problems are quite subtle but my sister Susan overshadowed him with her disabilities
“I suppose she had the limelight.
Barry was quiet and always very polite and well spoken”
Ms Diskin said she hadn’t seen her brother much over the 20 years they were apart but she did know he had problems with normal life.
Unfortunately, Barry did go on to acquire a criminal record.
He was convicted of indecent assault in 1981 and was given a suspended sentence.
In 1983, he was convicted of an attempted rape and was imprisoned for eighteen months, serving both sentences consecutively.
I visited him in prison during this period, but it was not a comfortable time for Barry.
I was incensed at his behaviour and let him know it.
Excerpts by Michelle Diskin Bates from her book Stand Against Injustice published in October 2018
However Michelle Diskin Bates had also stated that she saw her brother Barry George on a “rare” visit to London in 1988. Excerpts from her book regarding this read;
Having moved to Ireland, it was rare for me to travel back to London.
Fares were prohibitive, especially if you were travelling with children, so the next time I recall meeting up with Barry was in 1988 when I brought my two children to stay with Mum in London.
Sadly, Barry and I lost touch after this
Excerpts by Michelle Diskin Bates from her book Stand Against Injustice published in October 2018
Their uncle Mike Bourke made reference to his nephew Barry being at Michelle’s wedding in 1982, which their sister Susan also attended, along with their mother Margaret (Mike’s sister) and their father Alfred.
Michelle Diskin Bates omitted the fact her brother Barry George had caught the ferry over to Ireland to attend her wedding to Pat, which took place on the 31st of July 1982.
Michelle also omitted to mention her step-dad Eddie.
Killer Eddie Guilfoyle
The only Eddie mentioned in Michelle Diskin Bates book was the man who murdered his eight and a half months pregnant wife Paula Guilfoyle on the 4th of June 1992 – Eddie Gilyfoyle.
Michael Naughton & Bristol University Innocence Project
Michael Naughton who is referred to in previous Parts of this blog series and who is also mentioned on page 11 of the criminal cases review commissions statement of reasons here (Under the title of UoBIP = university of Bristol innocence project), works at Bristol university and he became involved with actual, factual guilty killer Simon Hall’s innocence fraud spin campaign early on.
…his work, which specialises on the problem of ‘miscarriages of justice’, with a particular focus on the wrongful conviction and/or imprisonment of factually innocent victims.
The innocence project, referred to by some people as the innocence ‘fraudject’ due to the high number of guilty killers and rapists it helps free from prison, was based on the American version of the innocence project, co-founded by American lawyers Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld in 1992.
It is not known exactly when Stephanie Bon first made contact with Michael Naughton and if Stephanie, or manipulative killer Simon Hall, wrote to Michael after hearing about the launch of Bristol university’s innocence project.
However a 2005 media story indicated Michael Naughton had been contacted by many killers, including the killer of Jill Dando; serial stalker, rapist and predatory sex offender Barry George, as well as “the family” of sadistic serial killer and psychopath Michael Stone.
Both killers were referred to in Part 17d, which can be read by tapping on the button below;
Excerpts from the 2005 media story which centred on Michael Naughton and his “frustrations” with the criminal cases review commission (Referred to in Part 15 here) read;
The shelf above Mike Naughton’s desk in Bristol University’s law school is heaving with files of letters from prisoners who claim they were wrongly convicted and want help.
“It shows just how desperate so many people are”
says Naughton, a lecturer in criminal law.
“They have got nobody else to turn to so they are prepared to put their futures in the hands of a project led by university students. It really is quite disturbing”
Naughton’s office has become the bustling nerve centre of the University of Bristol’s Innocence Project which aims to provide free assistance to the victims of miscarriages of justice languishing in prison.
Students have been giving up their free time to sort through the mountain of correspondence.
“They should be out drinking or chasing the opposite sex but they are here getting stuck in” says Naughton
Barry George, the man convicted of killing the television presenter Jill Dando, has written to the project.
Naughton has also had contact with the family of Michael Stone, who has twice been convicted of murdering Lin and Megan Russell and whose latest appeal failed in January.
Many other notorious figures – Naughton will not name names – have been in touch.
Over the coming months and years undergraduates will work with local criminal lawyers, who are giving their time for free, on five cases which they believe stand a chance of being referred to the appeal court.
Naughton hopes that the six-month-old Bristol project will be the first of many to be launched at universities across the UK to create an “innocence network” of students working to free prisoners they believe have been wrongly convicted.
“It’s still very early days but we think there is a gap in the present system which needs to be filled”, he says.
Innocence projects are active in the US, Canada and Australia.
The best known was co-founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck, one of the lawyers who represented OJ Simpson at his trial.
Excerpts by Steven Morris for the Guardian from his article headed Students to the rescuedated the 14th July 2005
Jill Dando’s Killer Barry George & His Confession To His Murder
Like killers Simon Hall and Michael Stone, Barry George used numerous aliases, including the alias Barry Bulsara.
Killer Simon Hall had used the name JamesShiperlee, which was noted on his prison files;
Screenshot of Simon Hall’s HMP Wayland prison ’patient’ records
Like killer Simon Hall, killer Barry George was reported to have gone on to admit to his guilt to his murder of Jill Dando, as was reported here and here.
Also like killer Simon Hall’s immediate family members (Lynne, Phil and Shaun Hall) and others, killer Barry George’s uncle Mike Burke and his sister Michelle Diskin Bates chose to deny killer Barry George’s murderous crime and instead made excuses for him, his personality and his behaviours.
Excerpt’s from a 2002 Mirror newspaper story here reported some of killer Barry George’s uncle Mike Burke’s excuses;
Mike Burke (left) photographed alongside fraudster and con artist Surjit Singh Clair
Uncle Mike Bourke (sic) said:
“He was warned people might try and tape his conversations or put words into his mouth.
“I just don’t think Barry would say anything like this. It is complete fiction. He has been on his guard.”
Mike, of Co Limerick, Ireland, added:
“He has been a bit depressed lately because he knows a lot hinges on it. But he has done nothing to make his family doubt he is innocent”
However Mike Burke stated in the book he went on to write and publish;
On Sunday April 7th I heard on BBC Radio 4 news that the News of the World had a cassette tape of Barry allegedly confessing to the murder.
I bought the paper and read the story which I found difficult to believe.
It alleged that Barry said to other prisoners
’…because I was the man who committed the murder’.
I phoned the number given and listened to the tape recording which sounded like Barry though the sound quality was very poor.
I had warned him that something like that could happen.
The source of the tape was a by then deported Polish thief who claimed he used his tape recorder to record fellow prisoners’ music
In 2002 a Scottish organisation, which was set up by one* of the six IRA terrorists who was convicted for the murders of twenty one people, and injuring 182 people, following two pub bombings, published Barry George’s sister Michelle Diskin’s excuse for her killer brother Barry George having admitted to his murder of Jill Dando.
A screenshot of Michelle Diskin’s published excuse is reproduced below;
Screenshot of ‘Justice for Barry George’ propaganda (The original can be found here)
*Three of the six men who were convicted of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings admitted to being members of the IRA and also admitted to having planted the bombs. In 1987 all six men had their murder convictions deemed “unsafe and unsatisfactory” by the court of appeal, but to date all six men have been unsuccessful in proving their innocence.
Similarly to killers Simon Hall and Michael Stone, Mike Burke wrote about a suicide attempt his nephew Barry George had made a couple of months after he was found guilty for his murder of Jill Dando.
On the 16th of September 2001 there was a story published in the Mail on Sunday, and according to Mike Burke here, a prisoner by the name of Daniel Reece had saved killer Barry George from an “alleged hanging attempt”.
INNOCENCE FRAUD WATCH 