DAD FLEES DANDO TRIAL

THE father of the man accused of Jill Dando's murder has fled to Australia to distance himself from the sensational case.

Barry Bulsara, who adopted the real name of Queen singer Freddie Mercury, goes on trial at the Old Bailey tomorrow.

Bulsara's father, ex-prison warder Paddy George, 70, and second wife Barbara, 60, have sold their home in the tiny South Wales village of Treharris.

Jobless Bulsara, 40, is charged with shooting BBC TV Crimewatch presenter Jill, 37, at point-blank range on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, South-West London, in April 1999.

He was arrested in May last year after _ a 13-month investigation costing pounds 2million. Bulsara's half-sister Maria Davies, 36, said: "Dad was devastated when Barry was arrested. It hit him like a brick.

"He decided to go to Australia to get away from the pressures."

But Maria said she believed Bulsara's mother Margaret, who lives in Acton, London, would be in court with other relatives.

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