Dando detective gets job back

The trial of Barry George gripped the nation

A Met officer sacked for leaking information about the Jill Dando murder inquiry has been reinstated after an appeal to the commissioner.

Detective Constable Robert McKenzie was originally forced to resign after a disciplinary tribunal found against him last February.

He was found guilty of failing to disclose contact with the media and failing to obey a lawful order.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The appeal was heard on 26 March and the appeal board reinstated Mr McKenzie and fined him 13 days pay."

High-profile inquiry

Mr McKenzie was suspended in January 2000 whilst a member of the central area Organised Crime Squad investigating Miss Dando's death.

He was one of 45 officers drafted in to the high-profile inquiry after the BBC TV presenter was shot on her London doorstep in April 1999.

They were all told not to talk to any member of the media without prior approval and without reporting what they had said.

It is not known what he had told the media.

The trial of 41-year-old Barry George gripped the nation, with his appeal expected to be heard this summer.