The Death of David Kelly - David Cameron refuses to allow Leveson to consider David Kelly's death

I've been tidying up a backlog of Google Alerts, including those about David Kelly.

I had missed a question to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, on 20th July 2011 from George Freeman MP.

It was mentioned in the Telegraph in these terms:

13.24 Cameron is asked whether the judicial inquiry will look into the death of David Kelly. Cameron says that it's important that the inquiry doesn't go "completely viral, as it were", and that Dr Kelly's death has been looked into very closely already.

See Phone hacking scandal: as it happened July 20.

The House of Commons Hansard for 20th July 2011 records the question and David Cameron's response in these words:

George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con): Does the Prime Minister agree that one of the most lamentable episodes in this sad affair was the death of David Kelly, a proud civil servant whose name was thrown to the media pack, putting him under intolerable pressure, which led to his suicide? Will my right hon. Friend give me an undertaking that the investigation will be given a remit to cover and look back at how that event unfolded?

The Prime Minister: The point that I would make to my hon. Friend is that we have to be careful that this inquiry does not go completely viral, as it were. It has to focus on the issues at hand. Obviously, the issue of David Kelly was looked at in detail in the Hutton inquiry, and I think that this inquiry has to make some progress.

See House of Commons Hansard Debates for 20 July 2011 (pt 0001). The quote is from Column 950.

Again, David Cameron repeats the nonsense that Hutton adequately examined David Kelly's death.

It's almost as if David Cameron knew that there is something important about David Kelly's death which must be hidden from scrutiny.

The Death of David Kelly - A timeline of events in August and September 2010

A lot was happening in the media relating to the death of Dr. Kelly in August and September 2010.

In this post I've tried to create a timeline to help convey the sequence of events.

1. 9th August 2010 - Article in the Mail on Sunday indicating that there wasn't much blood around at Harrowdown Hill in the morning of 18th July 2010. See 'There wasn't much blood about': Detective who found weapons expert David Kelly's body raises questions over his death.


2. 13th August 2010 - The BBC reports on a letter in the Times from a group of doctors claiming that the official cause of death was "extremely unlikely". See New call for Dr David Kelly inquest.


3. 13th August 2010 - The Telegraph reports the call from the doctors for an inquest. See Death of Dr David Kelly 'should be re-explored' doctors say.


4. 13th August 2010 - The Guardian, too, has an article about the call from the doctors for an inquest. See Experts call for David Kelly inquest.


5. 14th August 2010 - Article in the Daily Mail indicating that David Kelly may have been on a hit list. See Dr David Kelly was on a hitlist, says UN weapons expert as calls grow for full inquest.


6. 15th August 2010 - Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative Party, urges that an inquest be held. See Michael Howard urges Dr David Kelly inquest.


7. 16th August 2010 - The forensic pathologist Dr. Andrew Davison says the case should be left to the experts, by which he means the forensic pathologists. See Dr David Kelly's death is 'not a game of Cluedo', says pathologist.


8. 16th August 2010 - The Daily Mail publishes the results of a survey showing that only one person in five believes that David Kelly killed himself. See Dr Kelly: Just one in five believes it was suicide as official cause of death is branded 'impossible'.


9. 19th August 2010 - An article in the Guardian indicates that Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General, may intervene in relation to seeking an inquest for David Kelly. See Attorney general may intervene over David Kelly inquest.


10. 21st August 2010 - Paul Vallely in the Independent writes about suspicious that we haven't been told the truth about the death of David Kelly. See The Kelly Affair: Anatomy of a conspiracy theory.


11. 22nd August 2010 - Articles in the Sunday Times including claims from Dr. Nicholas Hunt that the death of David Kelly was a "textbook suicide". The articles are behind a pay wall so I don't provide a link here. However, the BBC quotes the "textbook case" claim here: Pathologist says David Kelly's death 'textbook suicide'.


12. 22nd August 2010 - The Guardian, too, picks up Nicholas Hunt's claim of a textbook suicide. See David Kelly's death was textbook suicide, pathologist says.


13. 22nd August 2010 - Tom Mangold has an article in the Independent on Sunday claiming that David Kelly committed suicide. See Tom Mangold: Shame made David Kelly kill himself.


14. 25th August - Martin Robbins the "lay scientist" tells those who question the suicide verdict for David Kelly to put up or shut up. See David Kelly conspiracy theorists should put up or shut up.


15. 27th August 2010 - Dr. Philip Timms, consultant psychiatrist writes to the Independent stating that Dr. Kelly's death is not a textbook suicide. See This is far from 'a textbook case'.


16. 2nd September 2010 - The Guardian reports that the Attorney General's Office had asked the Ministry of Justice for the postmortem report for Dr. Kelly See Full inquest into death of David Kelly comes closer.


17. 3rd September 2010 - Lord Hutton writes to the Attorney General with comments about the death of Dr. Kelly. See Lord Hutton to AGO 3 September 2010.


18. 4th September - The Guardian reports that a group of doctors are shortly to send formal legal papers to the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, seeking that an inquest be held into the death of David Kelly. See Doctors call for David Kelly inquest.


19. 5th September 2010 - The Daily Mail reports sloppy work by Dr. Nicholas Hunt resulting in incorrect information appearing in military death postmortem reports. See Pathologist's shocking errors spark new calls for full inquest into death of Iraq weapons inspector Dr David Kelly.


20. 12th September 2010 - Article in the Mail on Sunday indicating that David Kelly's body had been moved. See Dr David Kelly's body 'had obviously been moved': Paramedic at death scene reveals concerns over Hutton Inquiry.

I hadn't seen the letter in the Independent of 27th August 2010 from Dr. Philip Timms before.

I reproduce it here for the record.

This is far from 'a textbook case'

The pathologist who examined Dr David Kelly has been widely reported as saying that his death was a "textbook" case of suicide. This depends very much on the textbook.

In a textbook of physical pathology, Dr Kelly's injuries might well provide an exemplar of a suicide by wrist-cutting. But from a psychiatric epidemiological perspective, a different picture presents itself.

Wrist-cutting is such an unusual form of suicide that it is not recorded separately in national statistics, but is lumped together with other uncommon suicide methods involving self-stabbing.

In men of Dr Kelly's age in the UK who kill themselves, less than 3 per cent do so by using any sort of sharp implement. A much smaller number will therefore have actually cut their wrists. So, the physical pathological findings might be typical, but typical of a rare event.

Of course, Dr Kelly's death may still indeed have been a suicide. But, compared with most suicides, his case is neither representative nor characteristic. It is so unusual that it surely justifies a full and open public inquiry.

Dr Philip Timms FRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

The Death of David Kelly - It was David Kelly who debunked the "mobile weapons labs" lie

In February 2011 I explored the likelihood that it was David Kelly who played a key role in the debunking of the lie that two "mobile weapons labs" had been found in Iraq after the military conflict had finished.

See The Death of David Kelly - The Fictitious Mobile Weapons Laboratories.

I've now found a contemporary report, from the Observer of 20th July 2003, confirming that it was DAvid Kelly who told the Observer that the supposed mobile weapons labs were bogus:

In one particular Kelly was definitively at odds with what both George Bush and Blair were claiming about postwar discoveries of Iraqi weapons. Both had insisted that Coalition Forces had found and identified two alleged mobile germ warfare laboratories. But Kelly had a totally different opinion, telling The Observer that he had examined the alleged labs in person and had no doubts about what they were intended for - the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons. 'Exactly as the Iraqis described them,' he would tell this paper.

See A haunted man for the source of the preceding quote.

Just how much did David Kelly's honesty on that point anger very powerful people?

The Death of David Kelly - The naivete of the Guardian in August 2003

I've just stumbled across an interesting editorial from the Guardian of 1st August 2003. See Fair and exact.

Such innocence.

My considered view of the Hutton Inquiry is that it had two purposes:

1. To conceal the political murder of Dr. David Kelly


2. To conceal a criminal conspiracy within the higher echelons of the Blair Government to conduct military action in Iraq, contrary to UK Law

In concealing these criminal actions, I believe Lord Hutton will, in time, be added to an odious list of corrupt senior judges, not least the late Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery.

Lord Widgery you may recall covered up the murders of innocent civilians on Bloody Sunday by members of the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment.

Brian Hutton also played his part.

He was counsel for the Ministry of Defence at the inquest into the Bloody Sunday murders.

Mr. Hutton (as he then was) was not at all pleased when the Inquest correctly identified the deaths on Bloody Sunday as murder.

Mr. Hutton expressed his displeasure in these terms:

It is not for you or the jury to express such wide-ranging views, particularly when a most eminent judge has spent 20 days hearing evidence and come to a very different conclusion

In 1972 Brian Hutton wanted to conceal 14 murders which were politically embarrassing to the British State.

In 2003 Brian Hutton (by then Lord Hutton) again attempted to conceal a murder politically embarrassing to the British State. At least that's my view.

The Death of David Kelly - Media coverage of the Section 13 application of 18th April 2012

I thought I'd take a moment to draw together the media coverage (so far) of the Section 13 Application of 18th April 2012 to the Attorney General.

It's disappointingly thin on the ground.

Quite possibly, Dominic Grieve may consider that he's off the hook.

But I don't for a moment think he is.

The most helpful online publication is on the Global Research site where Dr. Stephen Frost writes a brief article and includes my letter to the Attorney General and the full text of the Section 13 Application.

See Suspicious Death of Dr David Kelly: Doctors Seek New Death Inquest.

The coverage in the mainstream UK media is very disappointing.

Only the Scotsman picks up the Press Association copy. See Doctors renew call for Kelly inquest.

DOCTORS campaigning for a fresh inquiry into the death of scientist David Kelly have submitted a new application calling for Attorney General Dominic Grieve to ask the High Court to order an inquest.

Mr Grieve rejected calls for an inquest last June, following a lengthy review of the case of Dr Kelly, whose body was found in 2003, shortly after he was identified as the source of a report about the government’s dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

The attorney general found there was no possibility that an inquest would reach a different conclusion from the Hutton Inquiry, which found in 2004 that Dr Kelly committed suicide.

But Dr Andrew Watt and Brian Spencer argue that Mr Grieve relied on a “misleading and inadequate assessment” of evidence that Dr Kelly’s body may have been moved in the hour after its initial discovery by volunteer searchers.

The Independent has a tiny item in its News Matrix for 21st April 2012. See The News Matrix: Saturday 21 April 2012.

Demand for inquiry into Kelly death

Doctors campaigning for a new inquiry into the death of Government weapons inspector David Kelly have submitted a new application urging Attorney-General Dominic Grieve to ask the High Court to order an inquest. Mr Grieve rejected initial calls for an inquest last June.

The Oxford Mail has a brief piece. See New appeal for Dr Kelly inquest.

A NEW application has been made to the Attorney General calling for a full inquest into the death of Government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly.

On July 21, 2003, Coroner Nicholas Gardiner opened an inquest into Dr Kelly’s death, three days after his body was discovered in woods at Harrowdown Hill, close to his home in Southmoor.

Prime Minister Tony Blair then commissioned the Hutton Inquiry which concluded Dr Kelly, 59, died from blood loss after cutting his wrist with a gardening knife.

But there have been repeated calls for a full inquest, with the latest application being made by Dr Andrew Watt, from Scotland, and Brian Spencer, from Cornwall. They believe questions still need to be answered regarding his death.

In February, Mr Gardiner said there had been no political pressure put on him not to order an inquest.

The Death of David Kelly - Dr. Richard Shepherd's evidence to the Diana and Dodi inquest

I've recently become aware that Dr. Richard Shepherd not only features prominently in the forensic pathology assessment of the suspicious death of Dr. David Kelly but also played a significant role in the interpretation of the high profile deaths of Diana, Princes of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed.

Dr. Shepherd gave evidence at what I'll call the Diana and Dodi inquest.

The transcript of his oral evidence to the Inquest on 22nd January 2008 is here:
Hearing Transcripts: 22 January 2008.

The first page of a report jointly prepared by Richard Shepherd and Professor Peter Vanezis is online here: JOINT FORENSIC MEDICAL REPORT Concerning the deaths and postmortem examinations of Henri Paul, Dodi Al Fayed, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Pages 2 to 12 of that report are, so far as I'm aware, not publicly available.

Professor Vanezis featured in a newspaper article which tried to discredit quetions about the death of David Kelly.

In an article published on 24th October 2010 on the Guardian website, The experts are clear on how David Kelly died, Professor Vanezis is quoted as follows:

Professor Peter Vanezis, senior consultant in forensic medicine to the armed forces, said: "These people are more clinicians and are obviously surprised that a person can kill themselves like that." Vanezis said the lack of large amounts of blood in the wood where Kelly was discovered could also be easily explained: "It was outside – it could have gone into the soil."

Dr. Shepherd also played a significant part in the Operation Paget investigation.

Lord Stevens describes a team of the "finest independent experts" and goes on to thank two experts in particular, one of whom is Dr. Shepherd. Lord Stevens describes Dr. Shepherd as follows,

Dr Richard SHEPHERD, is a Consultant Forensic Pathologist and Home Office Pathologist. He has given me his expert opinion on the medical condition and injuries of the Princess of Wales, Dodi Al Fayed and Henri Paul following the collision.

See page 4 of the abbreviated Report of Operation Paget here: The Operation Paget inquiry report into the allegation of conspiracy to murder (Overview report).

In my own mind I'm clear that Dr. Shepherd's evidence about the death of Dr. Kelly is seriously deficient.

I also believe that the deficiencies in Dr. Shepherd's evidence are likely to be wilful deficiencies.

In other words, Dr. Shepherd provided unwarranted support and credibility for an unsafe conclusion of Dr. Nicholas Hunt.

The effect of Dr. Shepherd's actions, in my view, are to conceal the murder of David Kelly.

The question now forming in my mind is whether Dr. Shepherd's actions with respect to the death of David Kelly are are the first occasion in which he has acted in that way.

That's a question I propose to look into more closely when time allows.

Interestingly, another forensic scientist is singled out for thanks on page 4 of the abbreviated Report for Operation Paget - Professor Robert Forrest.

The same Professor Robert Forrest who in a Conspiracy Files programme made reassuring noises about the death of David Kelly along these lines:

The concentrations in Dr Kelly’s blood are on the low side. We normally see higher concentrations than that in a person who has died of an overdose of co-proxamol. But if you’ve got heart disease – and if there is something else going on like blood loss, then all three of those are going to act together. The overdose of co-proxamol, the heart disease and the blood loss.

I’ve got no doubt that the cause of Dr Kelly’s death was a combination of blood loss, heart disease and overdose of co-proxamol. Not necessarily in that order. If I was going to put it in order I’d put the overdose of co-proxamol first. But it’s important that all of them had interacted to lead to the death.

Another eminent forensic scientist making reassuring noises.

Are they all acting honestly and with justification for their reassuring noises about the death of David Kelly?

The Death of David Kelly - Dr. Nicholas Hunt: Inhonest and discompetent?

For some time now I've been exploring whether Dr. Nicholas Hunt is dishonest, incompetent or both.

Today's political cartoon in the Guardian leads me to ask if Dr. Hunt is Inhonest and Discompetent.

See Steve Bell on the Leveson inquiry – cartoon.

Perhaps a claim to be inhonest and discompetent is Dr. Hunt's best way forward?