The weapons inspector’s final journey could have been tracked, and detectives could have found the geographical position where his telephone was last switched off or ran out of batteries.
But the Daily Mail has discovered that this potentially crucial information was never sought.
This is significant because it has never been formally established where Dr Kelly actually died.
Unusually, his death certificate does not specify a location of death.
It states instead the place where he was ‘found dead’, Harrowdown Hill, close to his home in Oxfordshire.
So the possibility cannot be ruled out that he died somewhere else in July 2003. Police can find information about a telephone’s whereabouts by searching a central mobile phone database, the Home Location Register.
This shows data including a geographical position where and when the device’s signal was lost.
But in the case of Dr Kelly – who carried a phone in his coat pocket – these details were not investigated.
Thames Valley Police initially refused to answer Freedom of Information requests relating to his phone records.
But, following intervention by the Information Commissioner, the force eventually admitted officers could not state where the scientist was when his phone was switched off.
They stated this was because they ‘do not hold information as to when Dr Kelly’s phone was last operating’.
Detectives were also unable to state where the last outgoing call from the mobile was made, and where the last incoming call was received.
Dr Kelly last received a call at 7.18pm on July 16, and last made a call at 12.58pm on July 17, the day he disappeared. His body was found at 8.30am the next day.
Controversy: Lord Hutton (left) chaired a public inquiry into Dr Kelly's death but no inquest was ever held. Attorney General Dominic Grieve is currently considering whether there is sufficient evidence to apply to the High Court for an inquest
Uniquely, for an unexpected death such as his, no inquest has ever been held. Instead, a public inquiry into his death chaired by Lord Hutton found that he killed himself after slashing his wrist with a blunt knife and overdosing on painkillers.
The Daily Mail has revealed that no fingerprints were found on the packs of pills which Dr Kelly supposedly took, nor were any recovered from the knife or a bottle of water found by his side.
Campaigners trying to secure an inquest claim the missing information on the death certificate – which was completed five weeks before Lord Hutton even finished hearing evidence from witnesses – would never have gone unmentioned by a coroner.
Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who in opposition privately expressed doubts about the case to at least one MP, is considering whether there is sufficient evidence to apply to the High Court for an inquest.
Explore more:
- People:
- Dominic Grieve,
- David Kelly,
- Tony Blair
- Organisations:
- Thames Valley Police
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344777/David-Kellys-mobile-phone-logs-ignored-detectives.html#ixzz1AZ6G6cKr
