Third submission (of 5) by Dr David Halpin to the Attorney General Dominic Grieve

Office of the Attorney General                                                                        16  February 2011
Mr Kevin McGinty
20, Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0NF
From:­  David Halpin FRCS
Insufficiency of inquiry
Dear Kevin,
I present in the following pages further evidence of insufficiency of inquiry.   I have sent two
previous letters as you know that are dated 28 November 2010 and 6 December 2010.  I have also
emphasised the importance in the evidence of our 'Opinion as to the likelihood that the death of
David Kelly CMG DSc was the direct result of haemorrhage due to transection of his left ulnar
artery'.
If it is more convenient for the Attorney General I will send this letter and the previous two as pdfs.
I also add that the copied evidence and other material does not make for easy reading.  I cannot
apologise for that.
Dr David Kelly's clothing: Sighting:  Search for him
I do not believe there was any questioning at the Hutton inquiry as to how Dr Kelly was clothed.
His corpse was 'wearing' a Barbour jacket but it was only two weeks after midsummer.  The
Radcliffe Meteorological Centre, about 7 miles from Southmoor, records ­
July was warmer than expected, with relatively average amounts of rainfall and sunshine.
The absolute maximum temperature of 32.5°C was 4.6°C above the long­period mean, and
was the 6th highest on record for July and also the 15th highest temperature ever recorded at
the station. The absolute minimum air temperature of 10.2°C was the highest ever recorded
during July, and follows a general trend towards higher minima seen over the last decade.
However, the weather on the 17 and 18  July was as follows.  The most salient measurements have
been extracted.  Those recordings dated 18/07/03 are the relevant ones being from 10.00hrs 17/07/03
to 10.00hrs 18/07/03.  I am grateful to the Radcliffe Meteorological Centre for providing them to
me.  I calculate the Centre is about 7 miles from Southmoor.
Date Wind
Speed
Humidity
      %
Dry Air
Temp:
Max:
Temp:
Min:
Temp:
Grass
Temp:
Soil
Temp:
30 cms
Soil
Temp:
100 cms
Rain
mm
Sun
Hours17/07/03 18 kts 100 15.9 18.8 15.4 14.2 20.5 18 4.4 0
18/07/03 8 kts  99 17.9 27.1 13.8 13.8 19.6 18.1 0.2 5.5
Temperature – Celsius.  Measurements taken daily at 10.00 hrs GMT
The weather records of the Physics Department of the University of Oxford  have also been got
for me.  The measurements are made every 3 seconds!  I have extracted the salient measurements
from these.  Those made from 15.00hrs 17/07/03 (about when Dr Kelly went out) have been
extracted hourly until 20.00hrs 18/07/03 (an hour after his body was taken from Harrowdown Hill to
the Radcliffe Infirmary)  I will retain these records on file here.
The essential features for  this 29 hour period are:­
WIND SPEED – Average c. 4 knots
TEMPERATURE –
16°C 15.00 17/07/03 (minimum)  as Dr Kelly left for his walk
14°C  03.00 to 05.00 hours 18/07/03
20°C  19.00 hrs (maximum for these 29 hours)  and approximately the time the rectal temperature
was taken and the body shortly removed
SUN – zero for those daylight hours
RAIN – zero
Comment
The choice of an outer garment for his walk would be understood, given the temperature at these
two sites near to Southmoor.  That a waterproof jacket was chosen rather than a sweater is less
easily understood unless he planned to go to the wood and to stay there until he took his own life.
The Barbour jacket would have provided pockets for the mobile phone, knife, water bottle, blister
packs and spectacles.  Those pockets would have allowed good concealment.
What did witnesses say about his clothing?
Mrs Janice Kelly
48  10  I will be fine. And then he went to change into his
11 jeans. He would be around the house in a tracksuit or
12 tracksuit bottoms during the day. So he went to change
13 and put on his shoes. Then I assumed he had left the
14 house.
15 Q. Because he was going for a walk?
16 A. That is right. He had intended to go for this regular
17 walk of his. He had a bad back so that was the strategy
18 for that.19 Q. And did he, in fact, go straight off for his walk?
20 A. Well, the phone rang a little bit later on and I assumed
21 he had left so I suddenly realised I had not got
22 a cordless phone and I thought it might be an important
23 call for him, perhaps from the MoD. So I went
24 downstairs to find the telephone in the dining room. By
25 this time the ringing had stopped and I was aware of
49
1 David talking quietly on a phone. I said something
2 like: I thought you had gone out for a walk. He did not
3 respond of course because he was talking on the phone.
4 Q. Where was he at this time?
5 A. In his study.
6 Q. Do you know what time this was?
7 A. Not exactly, no. Getting on for 3, I would think.
8 Q. Do you know who the caller was?
9 A. I assumed it was the MoD, I am not sure.
10 Q. And did Dr Kelly go out for his walk?
11 A. Well, the phone rang again at about 3.20, after which ­­
12 it was a call for me ­­ a return call for me, and
13 I could not settle in bed so I got up at that stage and
14 I was aware that definitely David had left by this time.
15 Q. So he had gone?
16 A. He had gone by 3.20.
17 Q. So between 3 and 3.20 he had gone for a walk?
18 A. That is right, yes.
We leave aside the very important unanswered question as to who called Dr Kelly.
Newspaper reports
a.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/jul/19/uk.iraq4      Guardian   19 July 2003
Paul Weaver, a farmer, may have been the last person to see him, as the scientist walked through
farmland to the north of the A420, a few minutes from his home. Dr Kelly seemed happy enough
and smiled at the farmer.
Dr Kelly's family was surprised when he did not return within a few hours. Though he often walked
for two or three hours, he was not wont to go for long hikes alone. He had left home in just a
cotton shirt and jeans. It was not cold but it was dull and rainy.
(Comment – who saw and said he left home in 'just a cotton shirt and jeans'?  The farmer, Paul
Weaver (Weaving in fact) saw Dr Kelly according to these two reporters.) b.
http://news.scotsman.com/huttoninquiry/Kelly­told­wife­this­wasnt.2445113.jp   Scotsman  19 July
2003
Paul Weaver, a farmer, was possibly the last person to see the scientist alive, as he made his way
alone along a country footpath at the edge of his farm. It was shortly after 3pm when the sighting
was made. …...............
His wife, who is understood to be suffering from arthritis, waited a few more anxious hours before
she called the police at about 11:45pm, and a search involving dozens of police officers and
neighbours was launched.
Susan Melling, a neighbour, said the farmer, Mr Weaver, knocked on their door and her
husband joined him in the search party.
"Mr Weaver called around and told us what had happened," she said. "He said that he had
seen Dr Kelly on his walk on Thursday afternoon because he was near his farmland at the
time.
"He was seen on the other side of the A420 road which runs just north of the village. My
husband told me they would be searching all the way to the village of Longworth, which was
the nearest village to where he was heading."
c.
This report in the Guardian is dated 18 July 2003 and is headed Timeline: Dr David Kelly.
Article history   Timeline: Dr David Kelly   This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 11.22
BST on Friday 18 July 2003. It was last modified at 11.22 BST on Tuesday 22 July 2003. It was first
published at 11.22 BST on Tuesday 22 July 2003.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003/jul/18/politicsandiraq.iraq
“July 17
At 3pm Dr Kelly leaves his home at Southmoor, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, telling his wife he is
going for a walk. Although he is accustomed to walking for several hours at a time in the footpaths
near his home, he is dressed inappropriately for the wet weather, wearing only a shirt and not
taking a coat with him. When he fails to return home by 11.45pm, his family contacts the police.”
d.  Minute to Paul Wearing 19/07/03 ­ not for release ­ Police operational information
TVP/3/0098 – 0099   (from Evidence  Hutton Inquiry)
e.  No record of any witness statement from Susan Melling.f.  No record of any witness statement from Paul Weaving.
A few of the many questions leading to a conclusion there was an 'insufficiency of inquiry' in
regard to the above facts
1.Why was Paul Weaving not called to the Hutton Inquiry?  Or was it considered by TVP that the
reports of his sighting Dr Kelly were insubstantial.  It is possible that he was one of the last persons
to see Dr Kelly alive.
2.Did the entry in the 'record of evidence' at Hutton – 'minute to Paul Wearing 19/7/03' relate to Paul
Weaving?  And what does 'minute to ..' from the TVP indicate?
3.Why was Susan Melling not called to give evidence at Hutton?  It is likely she would have
corroborated evidence given by Paul Weaving and possibly added to it.
4.Was any evidence seen by Lord Hutton in regard to the search party Susan Melling refers to. This
surely might have provided most important evidence about the movements and last hours of Dr
Kelly.  It might have provided other potential witnesses.
5.Contemporary reports in the newspapers cited contradict the evidence given at Hutton that Dr
Kelly was wearing a Barbour jacket.  This contrary evidence should have been tested.    
   
I shall follow this segment with two more shortly.
Yours sincerely
David Halpin                                                          By e­mail and later by recorded delivery post