Papers back Kelly suicide findings

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said he was publishing the documents on how Dr Kelly died “in the interests of maintaining public confidence” in Lord Hutton’s inquiry into the scientist’s 2003 death.

Lord Hutton asked for them to remain secret for 70 years “solely in order to protect Dr Kelly’s widow and daughters”.

“My request was not a concealment of evidence because every matter of relevance had been examined or was available for examination during the public inquiry,” he said “There was no secrecy surrounding the post-mortem report because it had always been available for examination and questioning by counsel representing the interested parties during the inquiry.”

The law lord said his inquiry was “open and public” and none of Dr Kelly’s family, the Government or the BBC “asked for leave to question or challenge by cross examination” witnesses whose evidence “led to the conclusion that Dr Kelly had committed suicide and had not been murdered”.

These included the pathologist Nicholas Hunt, leading suicide expert Professor Keith Hawton, the director of the Centre for Suicide Research at the University of Oxford and others, Lord Hutton said.

But the post-mortem examination and toxicology results were published yesterday after several doctors called for another examination of the case.

Releasing the documents on the Ministry of Justice website, Mr Clarke said: “I am publishing these reports in the interests of maintaining public confidence in the inquiry into how Dr Kelly came by his death.

“While I firmly believe that the publication of these documents is in the public interest, I am mindful that the contents may be distressing.

“I hope that the privacy of Dr Kelly’s family will be respected at this difficult time.”

Solicitor Peter Jacobsen who has represented the family of Dr Kelly since 2003, said they had no comment to make.

Dr Kelly’s body was found in woods near his Oxfordshire home in July 2003 after he was identified as the source of a BBC story claiming the Government “sexed up” its dossier on Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction.

In the outcry that followed, Tony Blair appointed Lord Hutton to head a public inquiry. Unusually, the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, ruled it should also act as an inquest.

The conclusions of the post-mortem examination by Nicholas Hunt matched those of Lord Hutton’s report.

But Michael Powers QC, one of the doctors questioning the death, insisted there was “nothing new” in the documents and there was still a “major conflict” over the amount of blood.

Dr Kelly may also have taken “far less than 29 tablets” and, if he had only taken six or eight, “one might draw completely different conclusions”, he said.

In his post-mortem examination, Dr Hunt gave the cause of death as haemorrhage, incised wounds to the left wrist, co-proxamol ingestion and coronary artery atherosclerosis.

The “orientation and arrangement” of his wounds were “typical of self-inflicted injury” and there were no obvious signs either on the body or at the scene that suggested an assault .

Attorney General Dominic Grieve is reviewing papers to decide whether he should apply for a full inquest.