DAVID KELLY was suffering from heart disease and may have had a cardiac scan shortly before he committed suicide, according to evidence disclosed yesterday at the opening of the inquiry into his death.
The details of a post-mortem examination carried out on the government scientist’s body will raise further questions about the Kelly affair, which has cast a dark shadow over both the Government and the BBC.
Dr Kelly, the weapons expert who the BBC says was its source for claims that Downing Street “sexed up” last year’s intelligence dossier on Iraq, was found dead in a copse near his Oxfordshire home on July 18.
Lord Hutton, in his opening statement to the inquiry, said that the post-mortem examination showed that Dr Kelly had taken off his glasses and unstrapped a watch before cutting his left wrist. These were features, said the pathologist’s report, of an “act of self harm”.
However, it was also discovered that Dr Kelly had “a significant degree of coronary artery disease” and four electrocardiogram pads were still on his chest when the body was discovered. This indicates that he had had heart check-up, possibly even on the day of his death.
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Lord Hutton signalled that his inquiry would not explore wider issues about the case for war in Iraq, saying that it would focus on the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly.
This will include evidence from pyschiatrists, friends, family and fellow members of the Baha’i faith which might provide insights into Dr Kelly’s “state of mind”.
The law lord confirmed that Tony Blair would be called as a witness at the judicial inquiry, as well as Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, and Alastair Campbell, Downing Street’s communications director. They will be expected to provide detailed documentary evidence of all discussions and decisions taken about Dr Kelly, including those leading to his unmasking as the likely source for the BBC stories.
Lord Hutton emphasised his independence yesterday, insisting that “this is an inquiry to be conducted by me”, adding he would not allow it to become a “trial” of the Government and the BBC’s conflicting claims.
However, Lord Hutton disclosed yesterday a letter from Dr Kelly to officials at the MoD in which he admitted meeting Andrew Gilligan, the BBC journalist who first broadcast the “sexing-up” allegation. This shows that the scientist believed that Mr Gilligan either had another source or had “considerably embellished my meeting with him”.
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Jeremy Gompertz, QC, representing Dr Kelly’s family, told the inquiry yesterday: “Having witnessed the added strain suffered by Dr Kelly by reason of his evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, the family would not wish that any witness at this inquiry should be subjected to a comparable experience.”
His comments, in response to an application from ITV and Sky News for some of the proceedings to be televised, represent the first substantial public comment by Dr Kelly’s family since the death.
“Family members are concerned that televising these proceedings will turn their private loss into the nation’s entertainment. ”
Last night the Ministry of Defence admitted an internal “security breach” that could have seen documents relating to Dr Kelly incinerated.
An MoD spokesman said that the classified papers had been mistakenly left out, which means that they would have been disposed of as waste, but that the oversight had been spotted in time.
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The inquiry will resume on August 11, after Dr Kelly’s funeral next week.