Dr. David Christopher Kelly CMG (May 17, 1944 – July 17, 2003) was an employee of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), an expert in biological warfare, and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. His talk with a journalist about the British government's dossier on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq inadvertently caused a major political scandal, and he was found dead days later. The Hutton Inquiry, a public inquiry into his death, found that he had committed suicide.
Biography
Kelly was born in the Rhondda in Wales. He graduated from Leeds University with a BSc, followed by an MSc at Birmingham University. In 1971 he received a doctorate in microbiology from Oxford University. In 1984 he joined the civil service, working at what is now DSTL Porton Down, as Head of the Defence Microbiology Division. He moved from there to work as an ad hoc advisor to the MoD and the Foreign Office.
His experience with biological weapons at Porton Down led to his selection as United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq following the end of the Gulf War. Kelly's work as a member of the UNSCOM team led him to visit Iraq 37 times, and his success in uncovering Iraq's biological weapons program caused Rolf Ekeus nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1996.
Although never a member of the intelligence services, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) regularly sought out his opinion on Iraq and other issues. David Kelly had become a member of the Bahá'í Faith in about 1999. Baha'i teachings condemn suicide and discourage a close involvement with party politics. His wife and children remained members of the Church of England.
Involvement with the WMD dossier
Kelly's specialism led to confusion about his actual job as he was frequently seconded to other departments. He was a frequent source for the media if they wished to check details, although he rarely appeared in front of the camera. In 2002 he was working for the Defence Intelligence Staff at the time of the compilation of a dossier by the Joint Intelligence Committee on the weapons of mass destruction possessed by Iraq. The government had commissioned the dossier as part of the preparation of what later became the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Although not responsible for writing any of the dossier, Kelly's history with inspections led to him being asked to proofread sections of the draft dossier on the history of inspections. In common with the rest of his section, Kelly was unhappy with some of the claims in the draft dossier, particularly a piece of information which had arisen in August 2002 that Iraq was capable of firing battlefield biological and chemical weapons within 45 minutes of an order to use them. The section queried the inclusion of the claim but their superiors were satisfied when they took it up through the Joint Intelligence Committee with the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).
Kelly believed Iraq had retained biological weapons after the end of inspections. He was privately supportive of moves to invade Iraq and remove the government of Saddam Hussein, and made the case to friends and family when they discussed it with him. After the end of the war, he was invited to join the inspection team trying to find any traces of weapons of mass destruction programmes. Kelly made one trip to Iraq from June 5-11 2003 but owing to a confusion over his visa, he was delayed for several days in Kuwait. He was enthusiastic about resuming work in Iraq.
Contact with Andrew Gilligan
On May 22, 2003, Kelly met with Andrew Gilligan, a BBC journalist who had spent the war in Baghdad, at the Charing Cross hotel. Kelly was anxious to learn what had happened in Iraq while Gilligan, who had discussed a very early draft of the dossier with Kelly, wished to ask him about it in the light of the failure to find any weapons of mass destruction. They agreed to talk on an unattributable basis (allowing the BBC to report what was said, but not to identify the source of the reported information). Kelly told Gilligan of his concerns over the 45-minute claim and ascribed its inclusion to Alastair Campbell, the Director of Communications for Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Gilligan broadcast his report on May 29, in which he claimed that the 45-minute claim had been put in the dossier by the Government even though it knew it was dubious. In a subsequent article in the Mail on Sunday newspaper, he directly identified Alastair Campbell as the person responsible. The story caused a political storm, with the Government denying any involvement in the intelligence content of the dossier. The Government pressed the BBC to reveal the name of the source because it knew that any source who was not a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee would not have known Alastair Campbell's role in the preparation of the dossier.
As the political fight ensued, Kelly knew he had talked to the journalist involved but felt that he had not said exactly what was reported. However, on June 30 he wrote to his line manager at the Ministry of Defence to report his contact with Andrew Gilligan. He was interviewed twice by his employers, who could not be sure he was Gilligan's only source. Eventually they took the decision to publicise the fact that someone had come forward who might be the source. The announcement contained sufficient clues for alert journalists to guess Kelly's identity and the Ministry of Defence confirmed the name when it was put to them.
Kelly was extremely disturbed by the publicity and arranged with a family friend to leave his home and visit Cornwall together with his wife. He was asked to appear as a witness before two committees of the House of Commons which were investigating the situation in Iraq, and was further upset by the news that one of the appearances would be in public. He had been given a formal warning by the Ministry of Defence for an unauthorised meeting with a journalist, and had been given to understand that they might take more action if it turned out he had been lying to them.
Appearance before House of Commons committees
When he appeared before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on July 15, Kelly appeared to be under severe stress. He spoke with a voice so soft that the air-conditioning equipment had to be turned off on one of the hottest days of the year. His evidence to the committee was that he had not said the things Andrew Gilligan had reported his source as saying, and members of the committee came to the conclusion that he had not been the source. However some of the questioning was extremely pointed and appeared disrespectful to Kelly.
However, during the Committee hearing he was closely tackled about several quotes given to Susan Watts, another BBC journalist working on Newsnight, who had reported a similar story. It later emerged that Andrew Gilligan had himself told members of the committee that Watts' source was also Kelly. Kelly unconvincingly denied any knowledge of the quotes but must have realised that he would have serious problems if the Ministry of Defence believed he had been the source of them.
On the following day (July 16) Kelly gave evidence to the Intelligence and Security Committee. He told them that he liaised with Operation Rockingham within the Defence Intelligence Staff.
Suicide
On the morning of July 17 Kelly was working (as usual) at home in Oxfordshire. Publicity given to his appearance two days before had led to many of his friends sending him supportive email and he responded to them. Among these was a journalist on the New York Times, to whom Kelly mentioned "many dark actors playing games". He also received an email from his superiors at the Ministry of Defence asking for more details of his contact with journalists.
At about 3:00 p.m., Kelly told his wife that he was going for a walk. He appears to have gone directly to an area of woodlands about a mile away from his home, where he took up to 29 tablets of co-proxamol (an analgesic drug). He then allegedly cut his left wrist with a knife he had owned since his youth.
Investigation
Kelly's wife reported him missing shortly after midnight that night, and he was found early the next morning. The government immediately announced an independent judicial inquiry into the events leading up to the death, and Lord Hutton was chosen to lead it. The BBC shortly afterwards confirmed that Kelly had indeed been the single source for Andrew Gilligan's report.
The Hutton Inquiry reported on January 28, 2004 confirming that Kelly had committed suicide. Lord Hutton wrote: "I am satisfied that none of the persons whose decisions and actions I later describe ever contemplated that Dr Kelly might take his own life. I am further satisfied that none of those persons was at fault in not contemplating that Dr Kelly might take his own life. Whatever pressures and strains Dr Kelly was subjected to by the decisions and actions taken in the weeks before his death, I am satisfied that no one realised or should have realised that those pressures and strains might drive him to take his own life or contribute to his decision to do so."
Hutton concluded, controversially, that the Ministry of Defence were under a duty to make Kelly's identity known once he came forward as a potential source, and had not acted in an underhanded or duplicitous way. However, he criticised the Ministry for not alerting Dr Kelly to the fact that his name had become known to the press.
Alternative theories
Although suicide was almost universally accepted as the cause of death, some medical experts have raised doubts, suggesting that the evidence does not back up this version of events. The most detailed objection was provided in a letter from three medical doctors published in The Guardian. [1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1131833,00.html The doctors argue that the autopsy examination finding of a transection of the ulnar artery could not have caused a degree of blood loss that would kill someone, and that there was only a minimal amount of blood found at the scene. They also contend that the amount of co-proxamol found was only about a third of what would normally be fatal.
The Hutton Inquiry took priority over the inquest which would normally be required into a suspicious death. [2] http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/detail.asp?ReleaseID=90793&NewsAreaID=2&Naviga
tedFromDepartment=True The Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner considered the issue again in March 2004. After reviewing evidence that had not been presented to the Hutton Inquiry, Gardiner decided that there was no need for further investigation. This conclusion did not satisfy those who had raised doubts but there has been no alternative explanation for Kelly's death.
Dave Bartlett and Vanessa Hunt, the two paramedics who were called to the scene of Kelly's death have since gone public with their view that there was not enough blood at the location to justify the belief that he died from blood loss [3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4089729.stm and [4] http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,13822,1372077,00.html Bartlett and Hunt told The Guardian that they saw a small amount of blood on plants near Kelly's body and a patch of blood the size of a coin on his trousers. They said they would expect to find several pints of blood at the scene of a suicide involving an arterial cut.
However, two of Britain top forensic pathologists, Professor Chris Milroy and Professor Guy Rutty, have dismissed the paramedics' claims, saying it is hard to judge blood loss from the scene of a death, as some blood may have seeped into the ground. [5] http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,13822,1372404,00.html Professor Milroy also told The Guardian that Kelly's heart condition may have made it hard for him to sustain any blood loss.
References
- Our doubts about Kelly's suicide http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1131833,00.html Letter to the Editor, The Guardian, January 27, 2004
- Kelly death paramedics query verdict http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,13822,1372077,00.html by Anthony Barnett, The Guardian, December 12, 2004
- New Kelly claims splits medical opinion http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,13822,1372404,00.html by Vikram Dodd, The Guardian, December 13, 2004
- The Hutton Inquiry http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/ , with transcripts
- David Kelly: the interrogator http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,13822,1130846,00.html — an account from The Guardian, written by Kelly's colleague, of how they set about examining Iraq's biological weapons programme
- Evidence of David Kelly to the Intelligence and Security Committee http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/content/isc/isc_1_0003to0035.pdf
- "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British government http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/02/uk_dossier_on_iraq/html/f
ull_dossier.stm , released by Tony Blair, the British prime-minister, 2003.
Last updated: 02-07-2005 04:47:16
