Answers needed: Case for new Kelly inquest

There is, of course, no shortage of conspiracy theories whenever dramatic events occur, as any trawl of the internet will reveal. Yet those calling for a full inquest into the death of the former government weapons expert are not the lunatic fringe of the blogging fraternity, but sober and respectable scientists who insist that the wound suffered by Dr Kelly in his apparent suicide was unlikely to result in his death. And now they have been joined by the former

Conservative leader, Lord Howard.

These are eminent people and they are right to highlight their concerns. This is particularly true in view of the highly unusual decision by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, that the inquiry into the death of Dr Kelly – whose body was found after he was revealed as the source of a story claiming that the threat from Iraqi weapons was exaggerated – should also act as an inquest.

Irrespective of the rights or wrongs of the Iraq war, that fact and the medical anomalies highlighted by

the experts are reason enough for a proper inquest to be held. Indeed, the interests of Dr Kelly's family, as well as those of the public, demand it.