Damages for Barry George

BARRY George, who was cleared of murdering Jill Dando, yesterday accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over claims that he was obsessed with TV personalities Cheryl Cole and Kay Burley.

Mr George, who was acquitted of the crime after a retrial in August 2008, was at London's High Court yesterday with his sister Michelle Diskin, who led the campaign to prove his innocence after his 2001 conviction.

His counsel, Gordon Bishop, told Mr Justice Eady that he had brought the case over articles in the Sunday Mirror, the People and on the Daily Mirror website in 2008.