[Fresh Ink] [UK] David Kelly post mortem to be kept secret for 70 years

[Richard Menec]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245599/David-Kelly-post-mortem-kept-secret-70-years-doctors-accuse-Lord-Hutton-concealing-vital-information.html#

Daily Mail                             Jan 24, 2010

David Kelly post mortem to be kept secret for 70 years as doctors accuse
Lord Hutton of concealing vital information

By Miles Goslett

Vital evidence which could solve the mystery of the death of Government
weapons inspector Dr David Kelly will be kept under wraps for up to 70
years.

In a draconian - and highly unusual - order, Lord Hutton, the peer who
chaired the controversial inquiry into the Dr Kelly scandal, has secretly
barred the release of all medical records, including the results of the post
mortem, and unpublished evidence.

The move, which will stoke fresh speculation about the true circumstances of
Dr Kelly's death, comes just days before Tony Blair appears before the
Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War.

It is also bound to revive claims of an establishment cover-up and fresh
questions about the verdict that Dr Kelly killed himself.

Tonight, Dr Michael Powers QC, a doctor campaigning to overturn the Hutton
findings, said: 'What is it about David Kelly's death which is so secret as
to justify these reports being kept out of the public domain for 70 years?'

Campaigning Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who has also questioned the
verdict that Dr Kelly committed suicide, said: 'It is astonishing this is
the first we've known about this decision by Lord Hutton and even more
astonishing he should have seen fit to hide this material away.'

The body of former United Nations weapons inspector Dr Kelly was found in
July 2003 in woods close to his Oxfordshire home, shortly after he was
exposed as the source of a BBC news report questioning the Government's
claims that

Saddam Hussein had an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, which could be
deployed within 45 minutes.

Lord Hutton's 2004 report, commissioned by Mr Blair, concluded that Dr Kelly
killed himself by cutting his wrist with a blunt gardening knife.

It was dismissed by many experts as a whitewash for clearing the Government
of any culpability, despite evidence that it had leaked Dr Kelly's name in
an attempt to smear him.

Only now has it emerged that a year after his inquiry was completed, Lord
Hutton took unprecedented action to ensure that the vital evidence remains a
state secret for so long.

A letter, leaked to The Mail on Sunday, revealed that a 30-year ban was
placed on 'records provided [which were] not produced in evidence'. This is
thought to refer to witness statements given to the inquiry which were not
disclosed at the time.

In addition, it has now been established that Lord Hutton ordered all
medical reports - including the post-mortem findings by pathologist Dr
Nicholas Hunt and photographs of Dr Kelly's body - to remain classified
information for 70 years.

The normal rules on post-mortems allow close relatives and 'properly
interested persons' to apply to see a copy of the report and to 'inspect'
other documents.

Lord Hutton's measure has overridden these rules, so the files will not be
opened until all such people are likely to be dead.

Last night, the Ministry of Justice was unable to explain the legal basis
for Lord Hutton's order.

The restrictions came to light in a letter from the legal team of
Oxfordshire County Council to a group of doctors who are challenging the
Hutton verdict.

Last year, a group of doctors, including Dr Powers, compiled a medical
dossier as part of their legal challenge to the Hutton verdict.

They argue that Hutton's conclusion that Dr Kelly killed himself by severing
the ulnar artery in his left wrist after taking an overdose of prescription
painkillers is untenable because the artery is small and difficult to
access, and severing it could not have caused death.

In their 12-page opinion, they concluded: 'The bleeding from Dr Kelly's
ulnar artery is highly unlikely to have been so voluminous and rapid that it
was the cause of death. We advise the instructing solicitors to obtain the
autopsy reports so that the concerns of a group of properly interested
medical specialists can be answered.'

Tonight, Dr Powers, a former assistant coroner, added: 'Supposedly all
evidence relevant to the cause of death has been heard in public at the time
of Lord Hutton's inquiry. If these secret reports support the suicide
finding, what could they contain that could be so sensitive?'

The letter disclosing the 70-year restriction was written by Nick Graham,
assistant head of legal and democratic services at Oxfordshire Council.

It states: 'Lord Hutton made a request for the records provided to the
inquiry, not produced in evidence, to be closed for 30 years, and that
medical (including post-mortem) reports and photographs be closed for 70
years.'

Nicholas Gardiner, the Chief Coroner for Oxfordshire, confirmed that he had
seen the letter.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday today, he said: 'I know that Lord Hutton made
that recommendation. Someone told me at the time. Anybody concerned will be
dead by then, and that is quite clearly Lord Hutton's intention.'

Asked what was in the records that made it necessary for them to be
embargoed, Mr Gardiner said: 'They're Lord Hutton's records not mine. You'd
have to ask him.'

He added that in his opinion Lord Hutton had embargoed the records to
protect Dr Kelly's children.

The inquest into Dr Kelly's death was suspended before it could begin by the
then Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer. He used the Coroners Act to designate
the Hutton Inquiry as 'fulfilling the function of an inquest'.

News that the records will be kept secret comes just days before Mr Blair
gives evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry on Friday.

To date, Dr Kelly's name has scarcely been mentioned at the inquiry. One
source who held a private meeting with Sir John Chilcot before the
proceedings began said that Sir John had admitted he 'did not want to touch
the Kelly issue' .

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: 'Any decision made by Lord
Hutton at the time of his inquiry was entirely a matter for him.'

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said yesterday that it would not be
possible to search their records during the weekend.

The Mail on Sunday was unable to contact Lord Hutton.

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