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  1. Politics
22 August 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 2:14am

Death of a conspiracy theory?

The pathologist who performed David Kelly’s post-mortem speaks out.

By Sophie Elmhirst

The pathologist Nicholas Hunt, who performed the post-mortem examination of Dr David Kelly, has spoken out to the Sunday Times today.

He describes the death as a “textbook” case of suicide and says with interesting candour that he had “every reason to look for something untoward and would dearly love to have found something”. However, in his view, “it was an absolute classic case of self-inflicted injury”.

So, will this put an end to the conspiracy theories surrounding Kelly’s death? Probably not. Ever since it was revealed that Lord (Brian) Hutton had ordered all files relating to Kelly’s death to remain secret for 70 years, rumours have circulated, adding to pressure on the government to hold a further inquest. The publication of a letter in the Times by a group of doctors and legal experts who doubted the evidence around Kelly’s death was consistent with suicide intensified the pressure even further.

Last week, the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, said that those calling for a new inquest may “have a valid point”, but insisted he would need new evidence before complying with their demands. For his part, Hunt said he would welcome an inquest and had nothing to hide.

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