"Shocking' delays in search for CCTV man

Cops took a year to  start hunt for 'N6814'

- TOM PETTIFOR

Witness outraged by slow Met response

DETECTIVES hunting for Jill Dando's killer waited almost a year before they began to search for the man who a key witness had reported running away from the murder scene.

The unidentified man, wearing a suit and tie, was caught on CCTV on the killer's suspected escape route on April 26, 1999.

Police files show officers had images of the man - known as N6814 two weeks later and he was identified by the female witness within a month.

But it was not until 2.13pm on April 7, 2000, that "Action 8990" was created, calling for him to be "traced, interviewed and eliminated" from enquiries, files show.

Michael Mansfield KC, who defended wrongly convicted Barry George in 2001 during his first trial for Jill's murder, said the Met's failure to look for N6814 for almost a year was "shocking".

Mr Mansfield, who had also represented murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence's family after the Met Police failed them, said: "It is redolent of the Lawrence case and the Met's missed leads and opportunities."

When told about the delay for the first time this month, the witness said: "Absolutely gobsmacked, oh my God, are you joking? It is absolutely shocking."

She said: "A year later? How on earth did they expect to even begin to try and find somebody that had been seen a year previously? You're never going to. That's crazy."