Witness 'saw Desperate Dan man'

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One of Jill Dando's neighbours saw a man who looked like cartoon character "Desperate Dan" just before the TV presenter was shot, a court has heard.

Charlotte de Rosnay, 36, told the Old Bailey the man was jogging across Gowan Avenue, Fulham, west London - the road where she and Miss Dando lived.

She said he was clean shaven but had "a shadow" and that she was "pretty certain" it was defendant Barry George.

Mr George, 48, denies murdering Miss Dando at her home on 26 April 1999.

The Crimewatch host, 37, was shot through the head at about 1130 BST on her doorstep at 29 Gowan Avenue.

Ms de Rosnay told the court how she was looking out of her bedroom window with her then mother-in-law at around 0940 BST that day, when the man appeared in the street.

She described him as "estate-agent smart" rather than "City smart".

"I believe he had a Desperate Dan look. He was jogging," she said.

'Gut feeling'

At a video identification parade in October 2000 she failed to pick out Mr George from the line-up. The defendant had, by then, grown a goatee beard and moustache, the prosecution said.

But Ms de Rosnay went on to tell the court she believed the man she had seen was Mr George.

When she saw him in the identity parade she "had a gut feeling" it was him but could not be certain, she said.

"I am pretty well certain it is him, but I cannot say positively because of height and skin colour," she added.

Mr George, of Fulham, who was originally tried for her killing in 2001, is being retried.