Dr David Kelly

Report in conjunction with Law Enforcement Picture Library

“The BBC behaved in a manner which a tabloid newspaper might wonder about. None of this would have happened if it had not been for the BBC story...”

THE FALL GUY A

t 3.00pm on 17 July, Dr David Kelly walked out of his home in Abingdon, Oxfordshire to a beauty spot he loved called Harrowdown Hill. Mr Kelly’s passion was walking and he enjoyed this particular site. At 11.45pm, his wife Janice was concerned because he had failed to return home. A massive police search then took place, but it was not until 9.20am the next morning that police found his body. Earlier, a local farmer had spotted Mr Kelly wandering on a footpath; he was a little puzzled, as he was usually accompanied by his wife or three daughters. For the man who had found Saddam’s anthrax and other weapons of mass destruction, it was a

dreadful way to say good-bye to the world. He had clearly found it impossible to cope with the pressure being exerted from every direction.

Tom Mangold, a former senior journalist with the BBC’s Panorama programme and a friend of Dr Kelly, has made numerous appearances in the media since the death of the scientist. He is fuming at the treatment of Dr Kelly and the fact that it could easily have been avoided. As for Dr Kelly’s questioning in Parliament, Mr Mangold probably spoke for much of the public and intelligence world: “For a man like David Kelly, who had worked with the intelligence services around the world, to sit there and be told he was a prat and a fall guy [for the MOD] was dreadful. He was an honourable, dedicated man. He volunteered this information to his employers at the

MOD in the knowledge that he would probably go before a committee. He did not realise the committee would treat him with such contempt.” Gerald Kaufman, another senior British politician said: “The BBC behaved in a manner which a tabloid newspaper might wonder about. None of this would have happened if it had not been for the BBC story.”

Two days later, the BBC announced that Dr David Kelly was indeed the “main source” of Andrew Gilligan’s story. Amazingly, its defence correspondent stuck by his story. Within hours the BBC faced calls for resignations at the highest levels. Friends and colleagues of Dr Kelly said that if the Corporation had acknowledged Dr Kelly as the

Most vociferous in his condemnation of the BBC, is Conservative and Dr Kelly’s constituency MP, David Jackson. He declared that the BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies should resign, and that BBC Director-General, Greg Dyke, should also consider his position. Mr Jackson said that the BBC’s conduct had been appalling. “If they had

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The Charing Cross Hotel in central London. It was here that BBC defence correspondent and Dr Kelly met

DEATH OF A PRIVATE MAN WHO FOUND SADDAM’S ANTHRAX

A policeman found his body. Nearby, a knife and a box of Co-Proxamol tablets were discovered. He had severed the main artery on his left wrist and consumed the tablets to ease the pain.

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primary source earlier, he would not have taken his own life. The BBC then issued a statement saying it “had accurately interpreted and reported” the information acquired from the weapons expert. Yet how could this be if Dr Kelly had dismissed any possibility that he had made such statements. And “interpretation” is an tenuous word to use. Clearly, both parties cannot be telling the truth, and Dr Kelly can no longer give his version of events. Henceforth, the BBC must now admit it was wrong or tell the public who supplied it with the information. Many in the intelligence world are asking where the BBC got its “supporting evidence.”

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made this statement while Dr Kelly was alive, I believe he would still be alive [Eye Spy emphasis] and I think the Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors should resign over this matter. I believe Gavyn Davies knew Dr Kelly’s name and he clearly misled his Governors in telling them that this was a senior intelligence source.” He was also scathing of Andrew Gilligan. “It seems quite clear that Mr Andrew Gilligan systematically invented a substantial part of his very damaging story.” Ironically, when Dr Kelly was questioned by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, he was asked if he had learned any lessons from the affair. He declared: “[I will] never to talk to a journalist again.”

DARK ACTORS PLAYING GAMES Just before he died, Dr Kelly said he had been “put through the wringer” during meetings with the MOD. He also sent an e-mail to a New York journalist on the day he died saying there were “many dark actors playing games.” An inquiry into the affair is being conducted by Lord Hutton - most of which is being held in public. • Eye Spy understands that the ‘45 minute’ claim actually came from a former Iraqi intelligence officer. However, we believe that this man told government investigators that Saddam could issue WMD orders to some of his units in 45 minutes. This is not the same as ‘deploy’.

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