A senior Conservative MP has signalled that the investigation into the death of Government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly should be reopened because the public ‘have not been reassured’ by the official verdict that he killed himself. In a letter passed to The Mail on Sunday, Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve praises a group of doctors who are campaigning for a coroner’s inquest into Dr Kelly’s death. And he questions the judgment of Lord Hutton, who chaired the inquiry into the death. Lord Hutton concluded that Dr Kelly committed suicide in July 2003 by severing an artery in his left wrist after overdosing on painkillers, but there has been much speculation about the circumstances. Probe: The case into the death of David Kelly should be reopened because the public were not reassured by the official verdict, says Dominic Grieve Now the doctors say that the artery is too small and difficult to access and severing it could not have caused death. Dr Kelly was found dead near his Oxfordshire home after being exposed as the source of a BBC news report questioning the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In Mr Grieve’s letter, dated March 16, he writes: ‘I am aware of the work of the doctors’ group on challenging Lord Hutton’s findings. They have made an impressive and cogent case.’ The doctors spent more than a year compiling their own medical report and, in January, applied to the Ministry of Justice to see Dr Kelly’s post-mortem report and all associated medical and scientific records. So far the MoJ has not released them. Mr Grieve adds: ‘This is something I would review if in Government as I am conscious this is a matter where the public have not been reassured that the Hutton Inquiry satisfactorily resolved the matter.’ Mr Grieve’s remarks, to Dr Michael Powers QC, an expert on coroners’ law, come two months after this newspaper revealed that Lord Hutton secretly ruled that evidence relating to the case, including Dr Kelly’s post-mortem report, should not be released for 70 years. Within 48 hours of our report, Lord Hutton said he would be happy for the doctors to see the records, including photographs of Dr Kelly’s body, but still the information is being withheld. When asked this weekend for his view on the MoJ’s delay in releasing the documents, Lord Hutton refused to comment. Mr Grieve’s endorsement of the doctors’ campaign could pave the way for a full inquest into Dr Kelly’s death if the Tories win the General Election. Dr Powers said: ‘Lord Hutton did not have the skills of a coroner in respect of the cause of death. It is highly improbable that Dr Kelly died from haemorrhage as Lord Hutton concluded.’ An MoJ spokesman said: ‘We will respond to the doctors’ request in due course.’Shadow Justice Secretary backs call for inquiry into death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly
Last updated at 1:22 AM on 04th April 2010
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1263411/Shadow-Justice-Secretary-backs-inquiry-death-weapons-inspector-Dr-David-Kelly.html#ixzz0k6qFuPhR
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Posts
