Detectives deny Dando breakthrough

Detectives continue to review their inquiry into the fatal shooting of the Crimewatch presenter on the doorstep of her home in April 1999.

The re-examination was ordered after Barry George was acquitted of her murder following an Old Bailey retrial in 2008.

Yesterday, a newspaper reported that officers had found "conclusive" DNA evidence after material was passed to the forensic science service for analysis.

The paper claimed advances in DNA technology have unearthed vital new clues with a 20 per cent chance of matching the forensic breakthrough to a suspect.

However, a source close to the inquiry said that, although the forensic review continues, there had been "no specific breakthrough at this time".

Later yesterday, a Metropolitan Police spokesman declined to discuss specific details of the forensic tests.

Miss Dando, 37, was shot once in the head outside her home in Fulham, south west London, on April 26, 1999.

Neighbours said a man in a dark blue overcoat had been hanging around before and after her killing.

The gunman shot her once in the head in a professional-style assassination after pushing her down towards the ground.

George, 50, was convicted of Miss Dando's murder at the Old Bailey in 2001 but the conviction was quashed on appeal in November 2007.

The Court of Appeal questioned evidence about a single speck of firearms discharge discovered in the inside pocket of an overcoat found at George's bedsit.

He was cleared by a jury in August 2008 after a judge ruled out the firearms discharge evidence, but allowed jurors to hear about his stalking.

During an eight-week retrial they heard he was an oddball loner who was obsessed with celebrities and guns.