Hutton Inquiry David Kelly (weapons expert)

1 hutton inquiry

1.1 fatality of ulnar artery cuts
1.2 doubts suicide verdict, , alternative theories kelly s death
1.3 publication of postmortem report
1.4 exhumation of body

hutton inquiry

the government announced lord hutton lead inquiry events leading kelly s death. bbc shortly afterwards confirmed kelly had indeed been single source andrew gilligan s report. inquiry took priority on inquest, required suspicious death. oxfordshire coroner, nicholas gardiner, considered issue again in march 2004. after reviewing evidence not presented hutton inquiry, gardiner decided there no need further investigation. conclusion did not satisfy had raised doubts, there has been no alternative official explanation kelly s death. hutton inquiry reported on 28 january 2004 kelly had committed suicide. lord hutton wrote:

i satisfied none of persons decisions , actions later describe ever contemplated kelly might take own life. further satisfied none of persons @ fault in not contemplating kelly might take own life. whatever pressures , strains kelly subjected decisions , actions taken in weeks before death, satisfied no 1 realised or should have realised pressures , strains might drive him take own life or contribute decision so.

hutton concluded ministry of defence obliged make kelly s identity known once came forward potential source, , had not acted in duplicitous manner. hutton criticised mod not having alerted kelly fact name had become known press.

during inquiry, british ambassador david broucher reported conversation kelly @ geneva meeting in february 2003. broucher related kelly said had assured iraqi sources there no war if cooperated, , war put him in ambiguous moral position. broucher had asked kelly happen if iraq invaded, , kelly had replied, found dead in woods. broucher quoted email had sent after kelly s death: did not think of @ time, taking hint iraqis might try take revenge against him, did not seem @ fanciful then. see may have been thinking on rather different lines. according entry in 1 of kelly s diaries, discovered afterwards daughter rachel @ home, meeting did not take place in february 2003, in february 2002. according kelly s half-sister, sarah pape, day after daughter ellen s wedding on saturday 22 february 2003, flew new york. pape told inquiry, did not mention going flying straight visit geneva.

fatality of ulnar artery cuts

although suicide officially accepted cause of death, medical experts have raised doubts, suggesting evidence not support this. detailed objection provided in letter 3 medical doctors published in guardian, reinforced support 2 other senior doctors in later letter newspaper. these doctors argued post-mortem finding of transected ulnar artery not have caused degree of blood loss kill someone, particularly when outside in cold (where vasoconstriction cause slow blood loss). further, conflicted minimal amount of blood found @ scene. contended amount of co-proxamol found third of fatal. dr rouse, british epidemiologist wrote british medical journal offering opinion act of committing suicide severing wrist arteries extremely rare occurrence in 59-year-old man no previous psychiatric history. nobody else died cause during year.

in december 2010 times reported kelly had rare abnormality in arteries supplying heart; information had been disclosed head of academic unit of pathology @ sheffield university medical school, professor paul ince. ince noted postmortem had found severe narrowing of blood vessels, , said heart disease have been factor in dr kelly s death cut wrist artery not have been fatal. vice-president of british cardiovascular society ian simpson said kelly s artery anomaly have contributed scientist s death.

dave bartlett , vanessa hunt, 2 paramedics called scene of kelly s death, have since gone public opinion there not enough blood @ location justify belief had died blood loss. bartlett , hunt told guardian had seen small amount of blood on plants near kelly s body , patch of blood size of coin on trousers. said expect find several pints of blood @ scene of suicide involving arterial cut. 2 forensic pathologists, chris milroy of sheffield university , guy rutty of leicester university, dismissed paramedics claims, saying hard judge blood loss scene of death, blood may have seeped ground. milroy told guardian kelly s heart condition may have made hard him sustain significant degree of blood loss.

on 15 october 2007, discovered, through freedom of information request, knife had no fingerprints on it. nor fingerprints retrieved medication blister pack or mobile phone.

doubts suicide verdict, , alternative theories kelly s death

the bbc broadcast programme on kelly on 25 february 2007 part of series conspiracy files; network commissioned opinion poll establish views of public on death. 22.7% of surveyed thought kelly had not killed himself, 38.8% of people believed had, , 38.5% said did not know. on 19 may 2006 norman baker, liberal democrat mp lewes, had investigated hinduja affair, led resignation of government minister peter mandelson, announced had been investigating unanswered questions official inquiry kelly s death. later announced had uncovered evidence show kelly did not die natural causes. in july 2006, baker claimed hard drive had been wiped remotely. baker s book strange death of david kelly serialised in daily mail before publication in november 2007. family members of kelly expressed displeasure @ forthcoming publication, husband of kelly s sister sarah saying, raking on old bones ... can t speak whole family, ve read [baker s theories], every word, , don t believe it. in book baker argued kelly did not commit suicide , examined many unanswered questions says surround incident.

on 5 december 2009 6 doctors began legal action demand formal inquest death, saying there insufficient evidence prove beyond reasonable doubt killed himself. in january 2010, disclosed lord hutton had requested files relating postmortem remain secret 70 years. in 2010, attorney general dominic grieve said considering inquiry review suicide finding.

in june 2010, daily mail , mail on sunday said had found evidence of alleged cover-up hide murder plot persons unknown, reasons unknown.

in august 2010, group of 9 experts, including former coroners , professor of intensive-care medicine, wrote letter british newspaper times questioning lord hutton s verdict. on 14 august 2010, jennifer dyson, retired pathologist, amplified criticism, saying coroner have recorded open verdict in absence of absolute proof suicide intended. cast further doubt on circumstances surrounding death of kelly, , criticised hutton s handling of inquiry. joined other experts questioning official finding kelly had bled death , argued more had suffered heart attack due stress had been placed under. intervention came michael howard, former conservative party leader, became prominent politician call full inquest kelly s death.

publication of postmortem report

in october 2010, postmortem hutton had requested sealed 70 years protect kelly family made public new government. report nicholas hunt stated: opinion main factor involved in bringing death of david kelly bleeding incised wounds left wrist. had not occurred may not have died @ time. furthermore, on balance of probabilities, ingestion of excess number of co-proxamol tablets coupled apparently clinically silent coronary artery disease both have played part in bringing death more , more rapidly have otherwise been case. therefore give cause of death: 1a. haemorrhage; 1b. incised wounds left wrist; 2. co-proxamol ingestion , coronary artery atherosclerosis.

powers expressed scathing criticism of lack of rigour of hutton inquiry, , asserted officially stated cause of death highly implausible. independent on sunday published head-to-head exchange of letters between 2 journalists: miles goslett, argued (as sudden or violent deaths) proper inquest should held; , john rentoul, convinced death suicide , think otherwise ridiculous , tasteless fairy story conjured conspiracy theorists.

exhumation of body

on 29 october 2017 reported kelly s body had been exhumed @ request of family. action taken due threats of exhumation protestors did not believe kelly committed suicide. body apparently moved , cremated.