• Military
• WMD

• Intelligence Menu               

• Systems
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Imagery
• Links

• Homeland Security
• Space

Kelly inquest not to be reopened

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 16, IRNA -- Local Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner 
Tuesday ruled out reopening the inquest into the death of former Iraq 
arms inspector Dr David Kelly despite medical doubts that he 
committed suicide by slashing his wrist. 
Gardiner said at a 20-minute court hearing that there were no 
exceptional circumstances to justify reconvening the inquest, that 
was adjourned during last year`s inquiry into the death conducted by 
Lord Hutton. 
Family barrister Jeremy Gompertz said that Kelly`s widow and 
children were satisfied with Hutton`s finding "as to the mode and 
approximate cause of Dr Kelly`s death". 
"The family is however disappointed that Lord Hutton did not 
consider more fully the extent to which the state of mind in which Dr 
Kelly took his own life was induced by the failings of the Ministry 
of Defence in the exercise of the duty of care owed to him as his 
employer," he added. 
In his report, published in January, Hutton said that "the 
principal cause of death was bleeding from incised wounds to his left 
wrist which Dr Kelly had inflicted on himself with the knife found 
beside his body." 
He also said that it was "probable" that the ingestion of an excess 
amount of co-proxomol painkillers coupled with a clinically silent 
coronary artery disease could have played a part in bringing his 
death about more rapidly. 
Last week, medical barrister Michael Powers called for a full 
inquest to be held into Kelly`s death, saying that his suicide 
"cannot be assumed" because the Hutton inquiry focused only to a 
minor extent on the causes and had not been challenged. 
A number of medical professionals have also expressed doubts 
whether he could have died from the self-inflicted wound and further 
pointed out that the ambulance team reported only a surprisingly 
small quantity of blood at the scene. 
Kelly, who worked as an advisor to the Defence Ministry, was found 
dead near his Oxfordshire home, west of London, last July after he 
was exposed as the likely source as a BBC report in May 2003 that 
suggested the UK government exaggerated Iraq arms threat. 
HC/212 
End