Woman tells court Dando accused stalked her

A woman who says she was stalked by the man accused of murdering BBC presenter Jill Dando broke down in court on Friday as she re-lived the day she was confronted by him.

Barry George, 48, frequently stalked women near the popular "Crimewatch" presenter's west London home and was found with more than 4,000 pictures of his female targets, prosecutors say.

George, who lived near the 37-year-old Dando in Fulham, was obsessed with celebrities and female television personalities, had a hatred for the BBC and was fascinated with weapons, the Old Bailey has heard.

He had also been in the Territorial Army and enjoyed wearing combat gear.

On Friday, Claudia Casey told the court she was forced to seek help by jumping in front of a passing car in the mid 1990s, after George confronted her in the street. She was one of several women to testify they had been stalked by him.

Casey broke down in the witness box as she described how George followed her and grabbed her as she tried to escape before handing her a business card with the name Barry Bulsara - the real name of the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury.

"I realised that there was something very strange about this man," she told the jury. "That is when I knew I had to get away from this man. A car came round the corner and I jumped out in front of it."

On Thursday, the jury were shown a picture of George, wearing a gas mask while holding a gun prosecutors claim was similar to the murder weapon.

Dando was killed with a single gunshot to the head, five months before she was due to be married. George denies murder.

Prosecutors concede there is no direct evidence linking George - who has a personality disorder - to the crime, but say various strands of circumstantial evidence "provide a compelling case".

The trial continues.