A friend of Jill Dando broke down yesterday as she described her horror at finding the TV presenter slumped dead in the doorway of her home, shot through the head.

Neighbour Helen Doble was expecting to meet Miss Dando as she walked along the road where the television celebrity lived. Instead, she encountered her lifeless body outside No 29 Gowan Avenue, Fulham, south west London.

"I remember seeing her car and thinking it was quite unusual to see it, so I made a conscious effort to look at her door, as that was often how we bumped into each other and talked.

"I looked to the doorway and that is how I found her."

Close to tears, Miss Doble said: "To suddenly encounter such a violent scene was completely horrific.

"It took me a few seconds to realise it was Jill, because of the way she looked."

Miss Doble was giving evidence on the fifth day of the trial of Barry George, 41, unemployed, of Crookham Road, Fulham, who has denied murdering Miss Dando on April 26, 1999.

Miss Dando's next-door neighbour had told the jury earlier how he first saw her body minutes after she had been shot.

Richard Hughes said he heard a scream just after the TV presenter's car had drawn up outside her home.

"It was a female scream. I did not consider it to be significant at the time. I thought it was someone surprising somebody."

Mr Hughes said he looked through the shutters of the bedroom window and had a clear view of a figure walking towards Fulham Palace Road.

"He was moving briskly. I could see half his face."

Mr Hughes described the man as between 30 and 40, of average height, thick set and with dark thick hair.

He said he only knew something had happened after hearing the sound of female voices talking outside.

The trial was adjourned until Monday.