David Kelly (microbiologist)

This article or section needs to be revised. Details should be given on the talk page. Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

David Kelly CMG (born May 17, 1944 in Rhondda , Wales , † July 17, 2003 in Abingdon , Oxfordshire ) was a British microbiologist , bioweapons expert and advisor to the British Ministry of Defense . He became known to a wider public primarily because of the mysterious circumstances of his death.

science

The scientist, who specializes in viruses , conducted research on defense against biological and chemical warfare agents. From 1991 to 1994 he investigated the Russian biological weapons program. Kelly was involved in the first control mission in Iraq as a UN envoy . Between 1994 and 1997 he was a total of 37 times in the Persian Gulf .

BBC report

He is said to have been the main source ( whistleblower ) of a BBC report accusing the British government of exaggerating intelligence reports on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction ; in particular Alastair Campbell , the communications director of Prime Minister Tony Blair , is said to have insisted on adding the sentence Iraqi NBC weapons could be operational within 45 minutes in the dossier against the resistance of the Secret Intelligence Service . Therefore, on July 15, 2003, Kelly was questioned by a committee of inquiry in the UK Parliament . He is said to have been put under great pressure. Kelly admitted to meeting with BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan. However, he denied that he provided the information on the article.

death

David Kelly left his Abingdon home for a walk at 3:00 p.m. on July 17, 2003, two days after the committee hearing . A day later he was found dead a few kilometers from his home with a severed ellenic artery . The artery had been severed with his penknife, but it had no fingerprints on it. Next to him was an empty box of his wife's painkillers. The amount of the pain reliever coproxamol found in his body was about a third of the lethal dose .

According to police, whose investigation into Operation Mason officially began before Kelly went for a walk, there was no evidence of outside interference.

Five years after his death, the Daily Mail quoted a friend of Kelly's as saying that he had never been able to kill anyone, let alone himself.

The pathologist's report published on October 22, 2010 by the Ministry of Justice , as well as the toxicological report that was also published, substantiate the thesis of suicide.

impact

The main source for the controversial article was David Kelly, according to the BBC on July 20, 2003. He was buried in Longworth on August 6th . Lord Justice Brian Hutton , who led the investigation into the circumstances of the death, and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott attended the funeral among the approximately 160 mourners .

On August 11, 2003, the High Court began an investigation into the circumstances of the death. The results were published in the Hutton report .

TV documentary

• David Kelly - The Gun Inspector (Great Britain, 2005, 106 min., Arte F, Director: Peter Kosminsky )

Web links

• Post mortem analysis report - Ministry of Justice, accessed October 26, 2017.
• Toxicological report - Ministry of Justice, accessed on October 26, 2017 (eng.).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ file reference TVP / 10/0099 - 0105 ( Memento from May 19, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ David Kelly's closest female confidante on why he COULDN'T have killed himself, Daily Mail, August 31, 2008
3. ^ Secret documents shed light on the death of UN weapons inspector in: Spiegel Online from October 22, 2010
4. ↑ Ministry of Justice: Post-mortem analysis and toxicological findings on the death of Dr. Kelly , accessed October 26, 2017.
5. ↑ Hutton Inquiry Web Site Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr. David Kelly, accessed October 22, 2010.
6. ↑ Interview Peter Kosminsky ( Memento from October 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) in: ARTE from June 23, 2005