Inquest Into Weapons Expert's Death Ruled Out

The Attorney General has ruled out an inquest into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

A dossier of evidence has been considered by Dominic Grieve, as conspiracy theories continue to swirl around the circumstances surrounding the scientist's death.

But Mr Grieve told the House of Commons the evidence that Dr Kelly took his own life was "overwhelmingly strong".

There was no evidence to support claims he was murdered or "any kind of conspiracy theory", he added.

Dr Kelly's body was found in woods close to his Oxfordshire home in 2003, shortly after he had been revealed as the source of a BBC report questioning the accuracy of a Government dossier arguing the case for war in Iraq.

The Hutton Inquiry in 2004 found Dr Kelly had committed suicide, and the then-justice secretary Lord Falconer ruled the inquiry could take the place of an inquest in the coroner's court.

But a group of doctors claim Lord Hutton spent only half a day of the 24-day inquiry considering the cause of Dr Kelly's death - and pledged to seek a judicial review of Mr Grieve's decision.

Mr Grieve said "there is no possibility that at an inquest a verdict other than suicide would be returned".

And he insisted all the evidence from the careful forensic examination of the scene and his own detailed review supports the view that "Dr Kelly died where he was found and from the causes determined".

The Government's legal adviser also offered his "sincere sympathy" to Dr Kelly's family, "not simply for their loss, great though that undoubtedly is, but for having to bear that loss in the glare of intrusive publicity over such a long period of time".

Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to rule out a full inquest last month, saying the Hutton report into the Government weapons inspector's death had been "fairly clear".

"I don't think it's necessary to take that case forward," he said.

The doctors, led by Stephen Frost, have denounced the Hutton report as a "whitewash" which "failed adequately to address the cause of death itself and the manner of death".

And they argued: "No coroner in the land would have reached a suicide verdict on the evidence which Lord Hutton heard.

"The coroner is required to hear evidence which constitutes proof beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased killed himself and that he intended to kill himself, before he may return a verdict of suicide. Lord Hutton did not hear evidence which came near to satisfying that test."

In a letter to Mr Cameron, they said: "Lord Hutton's finding of suicide is clearly unsafe and may, especially given the extraordinary context of Dr Kelly's death, represent one of the gravest miscarriages of justice to occur in this country.

"If an inquest is denied, despite all the evidence carefully provided to the Attorney General, there is a real and grave risk that your Government will be seen as continuing, and being complicit in, an enormous conspiracy to pervert the course of justice."