Michelle Diskin Bates Fantastical Storytelling

Niamh Horan, who’s 1st of October 2023 article for the Irish independent was referred to in Part 16 here and Part 17 here, also made the following statements – in which she quoted Michelle Diskin Bates;

Following his acquittal, the family — including George — visited the Isle of Wight for a holiday.

She says her brother moved to Ireland not to escape media attention, but “to escape the police”.

“A horrible thing happened to a 16-year-old girl in the area where we were staying.

She was attacked,” Diskin Bates recalls.

“Weeks later I had gone back to Ireland and the [British] police wanted to speak with Barry.”

Diskin Bates says after the Isle of Wight attack her brother’s solicitor had asked the police if George was a suspect and they had said no.

But then, “the police went to my mother’s home anyway where they thought Barry was staying.

“She said, ‘If you want to know what happened, speak to my daughter.’

Nobody ever came near me, but I had to almost secrete Barry out of the country of his birth and get him into Ireland where he would be safe.”

Niamh Horgan for the Irish Independent article headed ‘My brother was cleared of Jill Dando’s murder, but he won’t be free until the real killer is caught’ dated 1st October 2023

As already stated in Part 20 of this blog series here, Barry George spent the night of the 8th August 2008 in a hotel in London.

On the 9th August 2008 he then travelled to Southsea, which is near Portsmouth with his sister Michelle and mother Margaret, where they met up with innocence fraud killer Sion Jenkins and his wife Tina.

Barry George, his sister and mother then travelled across to the Isle of Wight for around thirteen days, where they stayed in the Farringford house hotel.

Michelle Diskin Bates stated that it was Barry Loveday from Portsmouth university who had recommended Farringford house to her. Michelle stated in 2018;

Barry Loveday had suggested a hotel to me on the Isle of Wight. It was on the other side of the island, furthest away from the ferry ports, but that was not the only reason for the recommendation. He had felt that we would benefit from a little luxury, and also the peace and privacy this hotel complex could provide. It would be the perfect retreat for our little family to start getting to know each other again.

Michelle Diskin Bates from her book Stand Against Injustice published in October 2018

There is no evidence anywhere that Barry George was a suspect in relation to the alleged attack on a 16 year-old girl.

However what there was evidence of – was someone (or more than one person) feeding the media with numerous stories.

Birds Of A Feather

A 30th August 2008 media article stated;

Barry George and Sion Jenkins, both wrongly convicted of two of Britain’s most notorious murders, have struck up an unlikely close friendship.

He had vowed to return to his flat in Fulham, South West London, after wrongly serving seven years in jail.

Mr Jenkins, 50, was sentenced to life in 1998 for the murder of his 13-year-old foster daughter Billie-Jo, who was battered to death with a metal tent spike in the garden of their home in Hastings, East Sussex.

He was released on appeal in 2004. Two retrials failed when neither jury could agree a verdict and Mr Jenkins was formally acquitted of murder in February, 2006.

His first wife Lois divorced him after his conviction and moved to Tasmania with their four daughters. After Mr Jenkins’s release he married Tina, a nurse and mother of one, who wrote to him while he was in prison. 

She sold her £1million mews home in Belgravia and the couple moved to Southsea. 

A source said that Mr Jenkins first met Ms Diskin at a seminar on miscarriages of justice run by Barry Loveday, a reader in criminal justice administration at the University of Portsmouth.

The source added that Mr Jenkins had told Ms Diskin that her brother could stay with him if he needed a place away from media attention after his release.

A spokesman for Mr George said: ‘I am aware they are good friends and I can confirm they have spent time together since Barry’s release.’

Excerpts from a DailyMail article by Daniel Cochlin article headed The Odd Couple: Freed Barry George finds a place to stay… with his friend Sion Jenkins dated 30th August 2008

Another media article stated;

Mr George, who lives in Hackney, East London, is said to have spent a week on holiday with Mr Jenkins on the Isle of Wight last month.

He also stayed at the home Mr Jenkins shares with his second wife Tina in Southsea, Hampshire, for three days. 

Last night, the Mail was told it was not a permanent arrangement.

Mr George, who has spent seven years in jail, still plans to move back to Fulham, West London, where Miss Dando was murdered. 

Mr George’s spokesman, Surjit Singh Clair, said: ‘The men are friends, I can confirm that. I think the friendship started around six months ago and it was cemented when Barry came out.’ 

After his release, Mr George admitted he could not have shot dead Miss Dando on the doorstep of her Fulham home, as he was stalking another woman at the time. 

Two weeks ago, the convicted sex attacker was stopped and searched by police after making several visits to the BBC Crimewatch presenter’s former home. 

Excerpts from a DailyMail article headed Barry George find himself a friend in Sion Jenkins dated 1st September 2008

How Long Was Surjit Singh Clair Stirring Things Up For?

Surjit Singh Clair’s name came up in further media articles around this time, including one in which it was stated Barry George had visited his “murder scene twice;”

Last night George’s agent confirmed he had visited the murder scene twice since his release.

Surjit Singh Clair said: “Yes, it’s true Barry has been back to Gowan Avenue twice.

“In his mind he wants to clear what he says are the demons from his past.

“His supporters have also urged him to do it, saying it would be a healthy thing to do for him to help him move on with his life.

“Friday was a routine stop and search in Hackney, nothing more.

“Earlier he had been to Fulham to see a friend but wouldn’t tell me any more I’m afraid.”

Barry George: I’ve been back there twice dated 24th August 2008

There was also an article written by David Jones for the DailyMail in which Surjit Singh Clair had again stated Barry George had mentioned visiting his victims “grave a few times”.

David Jones also referred to receiving an “angry email” from Michelle Diskin Bates.

Excerpts from David Jones article read;

During the interview he gave (or rather sold for £80,000) to a down-market tabloid after his release, George insisted he was never fixated with the 37-year-old star, as the prosecution had alleged. 

Yet if George wasn’t obsessed with Jill at the time she was murdered, he certainly is now. 

He spends hour upon hour poring over books and websites about her  –  and, now, with a breathtaking lack of insight into the likely furore, he aims to travel 150miles from London to the West Country. 

‘Barry has mentioned visiting the grave a few times,’ his spokesman Surjit Singh Clair told me this week. 

‘It’s something he definitely wants to do. He just feels there’s a connection between them  –  they’ve been tragically brought together.’ 

George has also discussed his plans with his confidante, his sister, Michelle Diskin. 

‘Barry spent eight years in jail for a murder he didn’t do,’ Mr Singh Clair said.

‘He’s become entwined with her life and she has played a huge part in his. He wants to exorcise Jill’s ghost, and say: “I don’t want you to think I hold any hard feelings against you.” 

Regrettably, it is. George’s spokesman says he might request permission from Jill’s family  –  and if so, he could receive a surprisingly favourable reaction. 

For with remarkable magnanimity, Nigel Dando said that he would not object to the visit. ‘It might give Mr George cause to ponder and reflect,’ he said, when told of George’s plans. 

‘If he looks respectable and takes flowers, and perhaps goes with a friend or relative rather than slinking around on his own, then it wouldn’t look too bad. It’s his personal choice.’ 

Regrettably, it is. George’s spokesman says he might request permission from Jill’s family  –  and if so, he could receive a surprisingly favourable reaction. 

For with remarkable magnanimity, Nigel Dando said that he would not object to the visit. ‘It might give Mr George cause to ponder and reflect,’ he said, when told of George’s plans. 

Mr Singh Clair is a Midlands-based freelance journalist who was enlisted by the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO) to promote George’s cause four years ago, when he was battling to overturn his murder conviction. 

He brokered the £80,000 interview deal after George’s acquittal, and he is now among the trusted inner circle who proffer assistance to George…

Others in ‘Team Barry’ include his sister, who flits between London and her home in Cork, his careworn 72-year-old mother, Margaret, and an old friend named Robert Charig, who can’t work because he suffers a neurological complaint, and so has time to dispense sympathy and homespun advice. 

Fringe members of the coterie include Sion Jenkins, who was cleared of murdering his own 13-year-old foster daughter Billie-Jo in 2006, after serving six years of a life sentence.

This week, Mr Jenkins denied reports that George has stayed at his Hampshire home, but admitted having met him and lent his support. 

Meanwhile, a few weeks later, a 26-year-old woman complained to the police that a man fitting George’s description had pestered her as she served in an upmarket speciality tea and coffee shop in West London. 

The most recent story surfaced only last weekend.

George was reported to have cycled seven miles across London in the rain to the HQ of Sky News, marched in unannounced and insisted on meeting the woman who interviewed him after his release  –  glamorous news anchor Kay Burley. 

George’s people dismiss all these damaging claims as a concoction of lies and half-truths. 

Their man was on a pelican crossing when he was stopped on suspicion of ‘casing’ cars in Hackney, they say. He has complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and two of his support workers, who just happened to be watching, will be his witnesses. 

In an angry email to me this week, Michelle Diskin claimed her brother was the victim of a media-driven plot designed to smear and intimidate him.

Excerpts from a DailyMail article by David Jones headed Obsessed with visiting Jill Dando’s grave and acting more erratically than ever, Barry George is a man on the edge dated 10th October 2008

Link to Part 22 HERE