On the BBC web site there is a useful timeline for the Hutton Inquiry here: Timeline: Hutton report.
One of the interesting aspects is that there are links to a number of contemporary videos.
Some of these give useful detail.
For example, in the video for 17th July 2003 (some of whose content seems to date to the 18th July) there is an aerial view showing the location of the Police vehicles relative to Harrowdown Hill wood. That view suggests that the body was located close to the north side of the wood.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
DS Geoffrey Webb let this snip bit slip (referring to before David Kelly’s body was found).
ReplyDelete“A. To be honest, not really, no. I mean, the Kelly family were very upbeat at that time. They were very hopeful that no harm had come to Dr Kelly. In fact, they genuinely believed I think that perhaps he had become ill somewhere.
Q. Were you joined by anyone?
A. I was joined by WPC Karen Roberts, yes, slightly later that same morning.
Q. What was her role?
A. She was going to take on the role of being a family liaison officer and really to look after the Kelly family, you know, during the following inquiry.”
I had believed that the “inquiry” he referred to was the search for David Kelly. That was until I came across he witness statement TVP 16 0001, she was the family liaison officer appointed to look after the family after Dr Kelly was found dead.
I always thought the evidence of Detective Sgt Geoff Webb required greater scrutiny. Both Webb and Mrs Kelly seem extremely keen to out the helicopter. I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteNow study this:
Q. And as a result of all that information that you had received,[from the briefing at Abingdon Police Station] where did you go?
A. I then went back to Dr Kelly's home.
Q. What time did you arrive?
A. 7.15 in the morning..
But hold on a minute, he hasn't been to the Kelly house yet because he was only called in to Abingdon at 4am, arriving at 4.45 for the briefing with Sgt Simon Morris and ACC Mick Page. And here he is going back to the house. Very rum. But it takes Webb 75 minutes to get from Abingdon to Southmoor - a few miles at most. Where did he go??? Harrowdown Hill??? Or did he really go to the Kelly house at say 6.15 am and return again at 7.15
Q. Were you given any information which assisted in relation to that [why and whither Dr Kelly might go]?
A. To be honest, not really, no.
Well, that was a waste of police resources ,then.
I can imagine them all back at Abingdon Police station, saying to themselves - oh hurry up and find that body quickly because it was a very tight timescale and everybody seemed to be hanging around ready to spring into action as the 9.30 deadline for Operation Mason was approaching fast. Unlike most missing person enquiries.
[Regarding the information given by Mrs Kelly to James Harrison about Dr Kelly probably going to the river,(corroborated by Rachel Kelly) this evidence MOD/13/0032 is not on the main Hutton Inquiry website, along with all other evidence MOD/13 beyond Harrison's statement MOD/13/0001-9. Very odd!]
Odd too that Mrs Kelly doesn't mention the river, only Harrison and Rachel Kelly.
Regarding appointing Karen Roberts as family liaison officer, it depends how you interpret slightly later that same morning. My feeling is that she was already liaising before the body was found, i.e. slightly later than 7.15 am.
I would have thought the basic fact of determining Dr Kelly's handedness would have fallen to a detective at the time (not nearly 6 months later as an afterthought!!!) - eg DS Webb, but I guess he was too busy opening envelopes and rummaging through briefcases and files to have asked the obvious question.
Felix the helicopter thing has puzzled me.
ReplyDeleteACC Page says he was not informed until 3.09am regarding the disapearance, he had been informed by a female area commander, she had informed Page immediately after she had been informed. Page says Sgt Morris authorised the helicopter.
Mrs Kelly was under the impression that of the matter "it seemed immediately to go up to
Chief Constable level" and a helicopter was above the house by 1.00am
Anyway we are expected to believe that Sgt Morris + 2 other officers turn up at the Kelly home within 15 minutes of the call to the police being made (they came from Abingdon, so a bit of burnt rubber there then or perhaps they were already sat in the car waiting for the call to come in), they bring a form with them, access the situation as medium risk and immediately scramble a helicopter.
Aren't our police wonderful?
ps both AA and RAC route planner has the journey time from Abingdon police station to the Kelly home as 14 minutes
ReplyDelete