Mystery: Inquiries into the death of Dr David Kelly are incomplete, police have said
By
Miles Goslett
Last updated at 1:31 AM on 27th January 2011
Mystery: Inquiries into the death of Dr David Kelly are incomplete, police have said
Further questions have been raised over the death of Dr David Kelly after police admitted that two personal items found with his body – his mobile phone and a watch – did not have any fingerprints on them.
The news brings the number of objects without fingerprints at the site where the weapons inspector’s body was discovered to five – the other three being the knife he allegedly used to slash his wrist, the packs of pills he is said to have overdosed on, and a water bottle.
It had been suggested that the lack of fingerprints on the knife might be due to the presence of gaffer tape on it. But Thames Valley Police have now confirmed that the knife had no tape on its handle.
Dr Kelly is said to have killed himself in 2003 after being named as the prime source of a BBC report accusing Tony Blair’s government of lying to take Britain into war in Iraq. No coroner’s inquest has been held. Instead, a public inquiry found he killed himself in woods near his Oxfordshire home.
In another disclosure, following questions submitted under the Freedom of Information Act, police admitted they still do not know who owned the watch found beside his body. Police did not bother to check with Dr Kelly’s relatives if it belonged to him.
Fingerprint expert Peter Swann last night called for the five items to be independently re-examined. Police have also refused to say if their investigation into Dr Kelly’s death is open or closed, admitting only that their inquiries are ‘substantially complete’.