Barry George had his murder conviction quashed in 2007 and has denied raping a teenage girl in a new case
Barry George, who was accused of murdering newsreader Jill Dando, has denied raping a teenager almost 40 years ago.
TV presenter Dando was shot dead outside her London home in 1999. George was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder but in 2007, had his conviction overturned through the Court of Appeal.
The 66-year-old, of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, has now appeared before a court on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl almost four decades ago.
George pleaded not guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Monday to one count of rape and two counts of indecent assault. Appearing via video-link, he also denied an alternative offence of attempted rape, reports The Mirror.
The incidents are alleged to have taken place in the Hammersmith and Fulham area of west London between September 6 and 12, 1987.
He will next appear at the court on September 30 for a trial date to be set. Judge Alexander Milne KC granted George bail.
George was arrested on suspicion of murder in 2000, a year after Ms Dando was killed. He was convicted in 2001, but the conviction was quashed in November 2007 by the Court of Appeal and he was cleared by a jury in August 2008 after a retrial.
Former Crimewatch presenter Ms Dando, 37, was one of the BBC’s highest-profile stars when she was shot outside her home in Fulham, west London, on April 26, 1999.
No-one has been convicted of her killing since.
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