Tuesday 10 May 2011

The Death of David Kelly - A man supposedly with two caps

One of the many oddities relating to the evidence about Dr. Kelly's death is the finding of two caps at the scene on Harrowdown Hill.

The two caps appear, for example, in Dr. Hunt's postmortem report.

One convenient way to explore the postmortem report is Tim Wilkinson's transcript, David Kelly: pathologist's report to the coroner - text version.

One cap is mentioned in Dr. Hunt's postmortem report as being found beside the left shoulder:

Lying adjacent to the left shoulder/upper arm was a 'Barbour' cap with the lining side uppermost. There was blood over the lining and also the peak.


Another cap is found in the Barbour jacket:

NCH/17/5 Flat cap from game pocket


It's possible that David Kelly simply forgot that he had a cap in the game pocket of his Barbour jacket and took a second cap with him on his walk on 17th July 2003.

But it's at least equally likely that the Barbour cap found beside the body may be a mistake by a "scene setter" who is trying to make the scene of a murder look as if it's the scene of a suicide.

Typical of the Hutton Inquiry. no effort is made in oral questioning by counsel to establish whether or not the cap beside the left shoulder does or does not belong to David Kelly.

In the absence of any questioning by counsel, one must assume that the counsel to the Hutton Inquiry considered it normal for someone to carry two caps on a walk. Counsel certainly didn't seem to notice anything unusual.

6 comments:

  1. I'm fascinated that the highly experienced DC Coe appeared so uncertain about the cap:

    6 Q. Could you be more particular as to what the clothes you
    7 saw were?
    8 A. He was wearing a Barbour jacket. There was a cap,
    9 a pair of trousers and think walking boots, but I cannot
    10 be certain on that.
    11 Q. Was the cap on the head or was the cap apart from the
    12 body?
    13 A. That I cannot remember -- I have a feeling the cap was
    14 off, but I cannot be sure.

    DC Coe was standing close to the body for 25 to 30 minutes and with a notebook to hand. But Mr Knox fails to pin him down on this!!

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  2. When the body was sat against the tree the injured wrist would have been located close to the base of the tree and blood staining / pool would be expected around the injury.

    But when the body was moved to lying flat on its back. the original blood pool would have been inconvenient. Why would there be a blood pool by Dr Kelly's left shoulder?

    The cap was used to cover up the blood pool by the shoulder, that is how it became blood stained. If the cap had simply slipped off Dr Kellys head it would not have been stained with blood in the manner reported.

    If the cap fits, as they say! Is this a cover up of a cover up?

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  3. LL,

    What you suggest has to be a possibility in light of the evidence that the body was moved.

    If the scene photographs are suitably comprehensive it should be possible to explore all this definitively.

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  4. Andrew

    I'm sure if all the photos still exist then there would proof but I suspect that the photos taken by Sawyer when the ambulance crew were present may have done a disappearing trick.

    Both ambulance crew described the injury to the wrist as pointing upwards and covered with dried blood. Franklin and Sawyer describe the injury as not being visible because it was facing down.

    In his Aug 2010 interview to the Daily Mail Dr Hunt said

    "there was clear evidence Dr Kelly repeatedly dislodged clots or scabs to ensure he continued bleeding. 'His wrist was red so he must have been doing this for some time.'

    The evidence by the ambulance crew conflicts with that of the pathologist and police. The evidence suggests that after the ambulance crew left the scene the wound was interfered with to permit fresh blood to flow then the wrist was turned over to facing down to hide fresh blood on the wound.

    I have no doubts that photographs existed that prove if this was the case or not; I don't know if those photos still exist but I do know that Dominic Grieve has the evidence for cover up that he made a public plea for and yet he has done nothing about it.

    I'm afraid the Attorney General has become a part of the cover up.

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  5. LL,

    A major problem with your suggestions as to what may have happened after the ambulance crew left the scene is that the body was dead and had, in all likelihood, been so for several hours.

    Interfering with the wrist wouldn't cause blood to flow since cardiac activity had ceased hours before.

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  6. Andrew

    I know but livor mortis was described as mobile in the pm report so with the help of gravity (lifting the legs) or chest compressions it may have been possible to squeeze a bit more out.

    Alternatively the new blood may not have been Dr Kelly's or even human if it comes to that. It's a pity that ACC Page never reported back on the ongoing DNA profiling.

    Typical of Hutton investigation of a technical matter regarding phones not resolved, investigations into whether third parties were present not resolved and the results back from DNA sampling not completed; pretty well half arsed like the rest of the inquiry in relation to determining the facts. But facts were the last thing Hutton wanted at his unlawful inquest.

    Mr Green

    Well, since then I have had upwards of -- I could count them but at a guess 50 items sent to the laboratory.
    Q. To analyse?
    A. To analyse, to carry out DNA profiling, to look at some of the staining in a little more detail.
    Q. Right. And you have carried all that out and reported back to Assistant Chief Constable Page or through his senior investigating officer?
    A. Well, my examinations are still ongoing.
    2Q. Right.
    A. I have provided a spreadsheet with a kind of -- a snapshot of where we are today about what items have been examined, what has been found on them, which items were profiled, the results of those profile tests, although I have not put my evidence down in a statement form as yet.
    Q. Because you are just finishing off the testing of that material?
    A. Exactly.
    Q. I think when all that is concluded Assistant Chief Constable Page is going to come back and tell us the results. (oh no he’s not) Subject to that, is there anything else that you know of relating to the circumstances of Dr Kelly's death that you can assist his Lordship with?
    A. I do not think so, my Lord.

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