?This legal document sets out details of the insufficiency and irregularities of Lord Hutton's informal inquiry which, in our opinion, make the argument for a proper inquest unanswerable,? he said.
"Although the senior Government law officer, it is hoped and expected that Dominic Grieve will put aside political considerations in reaching his decision on the law.
"The circumstances of Dr Kelly's death merit a detailed examination of all the evidence in a coroner's court. Many questions have been asked which demand proper answers. It is in the public interest that confidence is maintained in the due process of law."
Dr Kelly's body was found near his Oxfordshire home days after he was revealed as the source of media claims that the Government had "sexed up" its dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The dossier was used by then Prime Minister Tony Blair as a justification for the invasion of the country.
An inquest into the death was never completed as Lord Falconer declared himself satisfied with the finding of the Hutton Inquiry that the scientist had committed suicide. It prompted the Oxfordshire coroner to abandon the inquiry which he opened and adjourned immediately after the death.
But the five doctors, led by radiologist Stephen Frost, insisted that Lord Hutton ? who devoted only half a day of his 24-day inquiry to medical evidence and did not have statutory powers to require cross-examination of witnesses ? was not in a position to fulfil the duties of a coroner.
The memorial said there was "serious doubt" that sufficient evidence was available at the time of the "hastily conducted" inquiry to reach the conclusion that Dr Kelly deliberately killed himself by cutting his wrist and taking painkillers, as his death certificate suggests. Scrutiny of medical evidence was "unacceptably limp", the doctors added.
It also highlighted a press interview given by pathologist Nicholas Hunt in August, which it claims was "inconsistent" with evidence he gave to Lord Hutton.
The pathologist reported "thick clots of blood" inside Dr Kelly's jacket sleeve in what he called a "textbook suicide".
But the doctors insisted it failed to address key questions, such as how Dr Kelly obtained a packet of coproxamol painkillers, why his blood and stomach contained only a non-toxic dose of the drug, why he was not spotted by a police helicopter with thermal imaging cameras which flew over the wood where his body was later found, why no fingerprints were found on the knife apparently used to slit his wrist and whether he in fact intended to kill himself.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8228126/Attorney-General-urged-to-reopen-David-Kelly-inquest.html
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