U.K. Medical Experts Seek Kelly Suicide Inquest, Times Reports

By Chris Peterson

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- A group of leading U.K. medical experts want a full inquest into the death of David Kelly, a Ministry of Defence scientist named by Tony Blair’s government as the source of a leak saying the official dossier justifying the Iraq war had been “sexed up,” according to a letter published in the London-based Times today.

Kelly, a former weapons inspector, was found dead in a wood near his home in 2003 after the government disclosed he was the source of a leak expressing anger within the intelligence service over the way Iraqi arms data had been used to justify the Anglo-American invasion that toppled President Saddam Hussein.

The group, including two coroners and an intensive care specialist, said in their letter it was “extremely unlikely” that Kelly had bled to death from a slit wrist.

An inquest into Kelly’s death was opened and then suspended by the then Lord Chancellor, Charles Falconer, pending a judicial inquiry into the matter by Lord Hutton, who concluded that Kelly died from self-inflicted wounds; the formal inquest was never re-opened, the Times said.

U.K. Justice Minister Kenneth Clarke and Attorney-General Dominic Grieve are examining the case in order to decide the best way forward, the newspaper reported.

The experts, who include former coroners Michael Powers and Margaret Bloom, as well as Julian Bion, a professor of intensive care treatment, said the evidence presented showed that the artery which was severed couldn’t have bled enough to cause death, according to the letter.