THE television presenter Kay Burley has claimed she is being harassed by the man recently cleared of killing Jill Dando.
The Sky News anchorwoman has voiced concerns to the Metropolitan Police that Barry George, a self-confessed stalker, was taking too much of an interest in her.
It comes after Mr George visited the broadcaster's offices in west London last month to
ask for a tape of Ms Burley's interview with him following his in August.
It was also reported this week that he had downloaded pictures of the presenter on to a laptop and smuggled the computer into the hostel where he has lived since being cleared of the 1999 murder of Miss Dando.
Ms Burley collapsed while presenting her afternoon show on Wednesday, but it is unclear whether concerns about Mr George's behaviour were a factor in her illness.
Prior to his wrongful conviction in 2000, Mr George had a long-standing and well- documented history of stalking women, which emerged during his retrial. In an interview after his acquittal, he said he could not have killed Miss Dando because he was following another woman at the time.
However, he has since conceded that his behaviour was unacceptable. "I know I have done wrong in the past, and if I could go back in time and change that I would," he said.
It is understood Ms Burley was not at work when Mr George visited the Sky News studios last month, and he was turned away at the gatehouse.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "We can confirm we have received an allegation from a woman. We are not prepared to discuss the location or details of the complaint, and inquiries continue."
Sky News declined to comment.
However, a spokesman for Mr George said he had not been interviewed by police about the allegations, and he denied that there had been any inappropriate behaviour.
"Barry says that he has done nothing wrong, and as far as he is concerned, there is no truth in these allegations whatsoever," he said.
"He wanted a tape of the interview that Kay Burley had done with him, and he went to pick it up from Sky HQ. It was all open and above board, and he told everyone he was going.
"When he got there, he didn't ask to see Kay," said his spokesman. "He made a request for the tape and then went away.
"Sky News have co-operated fully with him and have sent him the tape he asked for."
The spokesman said that Mr George had not attempted to meet or telephone Ms Burley since the interview took place in August.
BACKGROUND
BARRY George walked free from the Old Bailey in August after a retrial cleared him of murdering the television presenter Jill Dando.
During the case, the extent of his stalking problem emerged.
A convicted sex offender, Mr George has admitted following, approaching and taking photographs of women. He is also known to have developed obsessions with a number of celebrities in the past, including Diana, Princess of Wales. He once tried to break into Kensington Palace, armed with a hunting knife and 50ft of rope.
During three weeks of police surveillance before his arrest, he was seen to approach 38 women and try to chat with them. Hundreds of photos of women, including other television personalities, were found at his home.
The full article contains 572 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
