Julie death report was 'changed'

Three people have been cleared of Julie Ward's murder

A post-mortem report on a British photographer was altered to make it look like she was attacked by animals, an inquest has been told.

Julie Ward's burnt and charred remains were found in the Masai Mara game reserve in September 1988.

Descriptions of her bone injuries were changed from "clean cut" to "torn" by a senior Kenyan doctor, the inquest in Ipswich, Suffolk heard.

She vanished while camping alone on the game reserve.

The pathologist who first examined Miss Ward's remains told in a statement how his descriptions of the injuries were changed by Jason Kaviti, then Kenya's Director of Public Health.

Adel Yousef Shaker said he had been handed "a left lower leg and lower bony jaw, a pair of sunglasses, a lock of blonde hair and some other items" by a Kenyan policeman.

He said: "The jaw and leg had been bisected by a clean cut fracture."

'Changed the words'

Dr Shaker said he heard Dr Kaviti ask a secretary for Miss Ward's post-mortem report a week later.

"Dr Kaviti took the report and held it and I heard him say 'no, no, no'. I knew he was intending to change the report.

"Dr Kaviti said it was only my opinion, it was not clean cut but torn. He changed the words and gave the report back.

"I was not happy about this. But Dr Kaviti was my boss. I was always brought up to obey and not to question those in authority."

Julie Ward's jeep was found about five miles from her campsite

Dr Shaker said he later read a newspaper report saying Miss Ward had been eaten by wild animals which he "knew to be untrue".

The jury heard that Mr Ward and an official from the British High Commission in Nairobi saw a copy of the report in which words had been crossed out on a typewriter.

Dr Shaker said he and Dr Kaviti were later called to a meeting with Kenyan Police Commissioner Phillip Kilonzo, at which a superintendent spoke about Miss Ward being a "loose girl who had been with different men on different nights".

"He talked about how she could have cut herself up... he said she may have been depressed and we should get her medical records. I wanted to laugh at this nonsense but I dared not."

John Ward, 70, told the inquest about the discovery of his daughter's body.

He said: "I was shown the bottom half of a left leg. A little way off there was a jawbone.

"Of course I knew it had to be Julie but I was not sure it was Julie."

The inquest continues.