Attorney General's Office

Death of Dr David Kelly: Attorney General will not apply for fresh inquest

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, today gave a statement to Parliament explaining that he did not intend to apply to the High Court for an inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly in 2003.

Before his appointment last May, the Attorney recognised that a number of people expressed concerns about how the Hutton Inquiry concluded that Dr Kelly took his own life. Since then he has received a great deal of correspondence, some requesting that in accordance with the provisions of the Coroners Act 1988 he consider whether an application for a new inquest should be made to the High Court.

He sought independent expert evidence from a consultant forensic pathologist and a professor of toxicology, received the considered views of Lord Hutton and others in response to the allegations made against them, and was assisted by officers of Thames Valley Police. Reports from the pathologist, professor of toxicology and Thames Valley Police are published today along with a considered response to the individual points raised.

The Attorney General said: "I have concluded that the evidence that Dr Kelly took his own life is overwhelmingly strong. There is nothing I have seen that supports any allegation that Dr Kelly was murdered or that his death was the subject of any kind of conspiracy or cover-up.

"This was an exceptional set of circumstances, as my office does not have an investigative function. It has taken some time, but I have given this matter extremely detailed consideration. It would have served no purpose passing the matter on to the High Court when the tests for a new Inquest are simply not met.

"I offer to the Kelly family my sincere sympathy, not simply for their loss, great though that may be, but for having to bear that loss in the glare of publicity over such a long period of time."

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Media enquiries please contact the press office on 0207 271 2440/2465/2484 or email bernie.caffarey@attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk or susan.givens@attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk

Notes to editors:

1. Supporting documents can be found at the Attorney General's website http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/Publications/Pages/DrKelly.aspx

2. The Attorney General takes decisions on whether to apply to the High Court for an inquest as part of his public interest function, independently of Government and strictly on the basis of the evidence.

3. He has no power to order a new coronial inquest. A new inquest can only be ordered by the High Court on an application made either by the Attorney General or by a third party with the consent of the Attorney General. But before any such application can be made, the Attorney General has to be satisfied that he has sufficient evidence in an admissible form, to persuade the Court that the test set out in section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 is met.

Section 13 of the Coroner's Act 1988 Order to hold inquest:

(1) This section applies where, on an application by or under the authority of the Attorney-General, the High Court is satisfied as respects a coroner ("the coroner concerned") either-
(a) that he refuses or neglects to hold an inquest which ought to be held; or
(b) where an inquest has been held by him, that (whether by reason of fraud, rejection of evidence, irregularity of proceedings, insufficiency of inquiry, the discovery of new facts or evidence or otherwise) it is necessary or desirable in the interests of justice that another inquest should be held.
(2) The High Court may-
(a) order an inquest or, as the case may be, another inquest to be held into the death either-
(i) by the coroner concerned; or
(ii) by the coroner for another district in the same administrative area;
(b) order the coroner concerned to pay such costs of and incidental to the application as to the court may appear just; and
(c) where an inquest has been held, quash the inquisition on that inquest.
(3) In relation to an inquest held under subsection (2)(a)(ii) above, the coroner by whom it is held shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as if he were the coroner for the district of the coroner concerned.