Day 17: Key points

Here are the key points from evidence of witnesses on day 17 of the Hutton inquiry into the death of government scientist Dr David Kelly.

Kate Wilson

The Ministry of Defence chief press officer said she had spoken to BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan, who she had known for years, on 28 May at around 1930 BST about an interview he wanted to arrange with Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram about cluster bombs.

"At the end of the conversation I asked him whether there was anything else running on the programme and he said he had something he was working on WMD and the dodgy dossier.

"He said it was not a matter for the MoD so I did not pursue it."

On 8 July, after the MoD statement saying an unnamed official had come forward was released, Ms Wilson said she had two brief conversations with Dr Kelly.

She told him the statement had gone out and had tried to give him her contact numbers but as he had no pen, she asked if he knew the duty press officer number, which he said he did.

When she spoke to Dr Kelly the next day, after his name was confirmed, he said journalist Nick Rufford had been in contact and he was minded to go to family and friends and would be heading to the West Country, but he would let her know where he was when he got there.

She said Dr Kelly had sounded "calm" and she had asked Sir Kevin Tebbit's office to contact him.

"However inevitable being in the media spotlight is, it is never pleasant," she said.

When told Dr Kelly felt "betrayed" by the MoD, Ms Wilson said: "Journalists already had his number. We weren't in a position to stop journalists calling him direct.

"What we did not do was give clues to journalists, which is what has been suggested. We were sticking to legitimate facts and questions."

Dr Andrew Shuttleworth

Dr Kelly's resource manager at the Defence Science Technology Laboratory, the MoD's research arm, at Porton Down, gave evidence via audio link.

In April 1999, Dr Kelly went to see him to say he had not had a pay rise for three years

Dr Kelly was to be offered a re-grading from his current position to a substantive grade five by the MoD personnel department. He was also going to be considered for Senior Civil Service membership, said Dr Shuttleworth.

Dr Shuttleworth said he agreed to help the scientist with his pay inquiries because he was travelling back to Iraq.

But he found out that Dr Kelly was not to receive the substantive grade five and was not eligible to join the Senior Civil Service. "There seemed to be quite a bit of confusion," said Dr Shuttleworth.

He said the scientist "was not bitter, he was frustrated".

Dr Kelly was thinking about retirement by 1999 and alternative employment following the collapse of Unscom - where he worked as a weapons inspector - the previous year.

Part of Dr Kelly's contract with Unscom was to sign a contract of confidentiality, but he was also "actively encouraged to talk to the press", said Dr Shuttleworth.

This meant Dr Kelly had to decide which of his "employers" he should approach for clearance for each press request.

Martin Howard

The deputy chief of defence intelligence said he went on 8 July to the office of Sir Kevin Tebbit, the MoD permanent secretary, where a decision was being made about the terms of a public announcement that an unnamed official had admitted some contact with Mr Gilligan.

MoD 'did not carry out parlour game for journalists' with Kelly name

He discussed a question and answer brief for press officers with Pam Teare, the MoD's head of news, which she had drafted.

He presumed that if any journalists put the correct name to the press officers, then they would confirm it.

Questioned about the basis of that understanding, he said: "I thought it would have been very difficult to do otherwise. The purpose of the Q&A was to provide truthful and factual answers."

After initial discussions with Ms Teare, discussions on the precise terms of the public statement continued in Sir Kevin's office, with Peter Watkins, Mr Hoon's principal private secretary, joining them at times, as well as Sir Kevin's private secretary.

Once the statement had been cleared, it was agreed that MoD personnel director Richard Hatfield "would put the terms of the statement to Dr Kelly".

I suggest to you that the strategy that was adopted with regard to Dr Kelly's name was both cynical and irresponsible Jeremy Gompertz QC Counsel for the Kelly family to Martin Howard

Later that day, Dominic Wilson confirmed that "Mr Hatfield had spoken to Dr Kelly, had read out a statement to him and reported that Dr Kelly said he was content".

Denying the source was Dr Kelly "would have been a direct lie and unacceptable for a government department", he said.

Asked if the MoD had used a ploy to name Dr Kelly, Mr Howard replied: "Absolutely not".

Jeremy Gompertz QC, for the Kelly family, asked Mr Howard who made the decision that the scientist should be named.

Mr Howard said: "It is hard to say that any one person should be publicly identified.

"The fact that his name should be confirmed was set out in the Q&A brief and that was approved by Sir Kevin Tebbit."

At the time of his death, Dr Kelly had significant amount of narrowing of the arteries to the heart, his coronary artery Dr Nicholas Hunt Home Office pathologist

Pressed again, Mr Howard said Sir Kevin "was certainly part of the process of agreeing that we would confirm the name if it was put to us".

Mr Gompertz said the combination of information released "meant that any able journalist, with a little research, would be able to identify Dr Kelly", but Mr Howard did not entirely agree

It had been made plain to Dr Kelly that it was likely his name would come out.

Mr Gompertz said the procedure used to name Dr Kelly "amounted to a parlour game for journalists", a charge Mr Howard rejected,

Mr Gompertz asked: "Or was it more like a game of Russian Roulette?"

Mr Howard replied: "No it was not that either."

There was no positive pathological evidence that this man had been subjected to any sustained, violent assault prior to his death Dr Nicholas Hunt Home Office pathologist

Mr Gompertz asserted: "I suggest to you that the strategy that was adopted with regard to Dr Kelly's name was both cynical and irresponsible."

Mr Howard denied Dr Kelly had been "shabbily" treated.

He said he had no idea why the weapons expert should have told his wife and a friend that he feared his pension or security clearance could be in jeopardy because of the row.

Mr Hoon was not present at any meetings to discuss the naming strategy, although his private secretary did attend from time to time.

He said at the end of a meeting on 14 July, at which he had tried to explain how the parliamentary committees work, Dr Kelly was nervous, but while this was expected, there was "no evidence he was not ready for the meeting".

James Dingemans QC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Mr Howard if he agreed with the reference to Dr Kelly as a "middle ranking official".

"I saw that," he said. "I believe I agreed, I thought it was an accurate description of what I understood Dr Kelly's position to be."

Dr Nicholas Hunt

The Home Office pathologist was asked by Thames Valley Police to go to Harrowdown Hill in Oxfordshire, the secluded beauty spot where Dr Kelly's body was found on 18 July.

Dr Hunt told the inquiry he was escorted to Dr Kelly's body, adding: "He was lying on his back, fully clothed, with his boots on. His left arm was towards his side, his right arm was over his chest area."

A pruning knife was found next to Dr Kelly, along with bloodstains on his body and in the undergrowth and soil on his left-hand side.

Dr Hunt said a series of incised wounds and cuts were found on the left arm and wrist

An artery had been severed and there were a series of "hesitation marks", or cuts made before deeper incisions.

There were three minor grazes to the side of the scientist's head, consistent with being in contact with undergrowth, and minor skin bruises to his knees and chest, which could have happened while stumbling or walking through the woods.

Dr Hunt said there were no indications of defensive injuries which would have happened if someone had been trying to "parry blows from a weapon or trying to grab a weapon".

"At the time of his death, Dr Kelly had significant amount of narrowing of the arteries to the heart, his coronary artery," said Dr Hunt. "That was the only positive evidence of natural disease but I could not find evidence that he had had a heart attack as a consequence of that."

Dr Hunt estimated the time of the weapons' expert's death to have been between 1615 on 17 July and 0115 the following day.

Wounds on his body were consistent with someone wishing to cause themselves harm, said Dr Hunt. The fact that Dr Kelly was found in a quiet beauty spot suggested that he may have intentionally tried to harm himself.

Dr Hunt said there were no signs that Dr Kelly had been "overpowered" by any volatile chemical like chloroform or had been subjected to "any sustained, violent assault prior to his death".

Blood loss was the cause of death with a drug overdose listed as a possible contributing factor, Dr Hunt's report said.

Detective Constable Graham Coe

DC Coe was the first officer to see Dr Kelly's body

The officer said he had been called out on 18 July to make house-to-house inquiries in the Longworth area near Dr Kelly's home.

He said a member of a volunteer search team told him and his colleague that they had found a body in the woods.

He said he saw Dr Kelly's body lying against a large tree with his head towards the trunk.

The officer stayed with the body for up to 30 minutes until other colleagues arrived.