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Dr. David Kelly
(1944-2003) |
ntering the
witness box at the Hutton Inquiry on 16th September 2003, one key
figure stands out in the events surrounding Dr David Kelly's death.
The fact that his testimony contradicts that of five previous
witnesses has received no attention in the mainstream press and has
failed to be brought out in the Inquiry itself. Moreover, the
position of David Kelly's body prior to his arrival is different
from its position when he leaves. This man is a British policeman:
his name, Detective Constable Coe.
In his testimony before Lord Hutton, DC Coe, the third witness to
Kelly's dead body, relates how he is called out at 6.00am on 18th
July to Abingdon police station. Here he is instructed (we are not
told who by) to make house-to-house enquiries in the village of
Longworth, about a mile from Kelly's house. He does not follow these
instructions. He heads instead to Southmoor, Kelly's home village.
Here he visits Ruth Absalom, one of Kelly's neighbours, who was the
last person to speak to the scientist the previous afternoon. From
here, rather than make house-to-house enquiries, Coe sets off to the
area where Ruth Absalom last sees Kelly to make what he describes to
the Inquiry as "a sort of search towards the river".
Perjury?
The next section of DC Coe's testimony contains one of the most
blatant discrepancies in the whole of the Hutton Inquiry. While it
is clear from his own and other testimonies that he is not alone
while in the region of Harrowdown Hill, a serious question mark
hangs over the number of people who are with him.
In the witness box Coe claims that he is with only one other
officer. But five previous witnesses - the dog-handler/searcher,
Louise Holmes, the two official search officers, PCs Franklin and
Saunders, and the two paramedics, Vanessa Hunt and David Bartlett -
clearly state he is with two others.
In front of Lord Hutton DC Coe relates how he and "a colleague" go
to the area where Ruth Absalom has last seen Kelly. He names this
"colleague" as one "DC Shields":
DC Coe: We spoke
to a witness who lived more or less opposite,
4 who had seen Dr Kelly on the afternoon, the Thursday
5 afternoon, and myself and a colleague went to the area
6 where she had last seen him and made a sort of search
7 towards the river.
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Under further
questioning from Knox, one of the Hutton barristers, Coe reiterates
that on the morning of 18th July he is with only one other person:
Knox: "Who were
you with at this time?"
DC Coe: "Detective Constable Shields".
Knox: "It is just the two of you?"
DC Coe: "Yes."
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Nowhere in
Coe's testimony is mention made of a third officer. Nor, despite the
statements from the five witnesses who state he was with two other
officers, is Coe asked about a third officer. Why does Coe not
mention his other companion? And why does the barrister, Knox, allow
this crucial point to slip by?
DC Coe Unrecognised by Police Search Team
DC Coe arrives on the scene independently of other police officers -
indeed they are not notified that he is to be on the scene at all.
PC Franklin, the officer responsible for the police search, is given
to understand that on Friday 18th July only he and his search team
leader, PC Sawyer and "6 other officers" are to conduct the search,
which is (after conferring with Sergeant Woods on Kelly's
oft-frequented routes) set to begin at Harrowdown Hill, the site
where Kelly's body is ultimately found. "PC Sawyer and I were going
to be the first", said Franklin.
Yet on arriving at the scene they meet Paul Chapman, the volunteer
searcher, who directs them to "two uniformed police officers and DC
Coe".
"Q: You mentioned
DC Coe. Was he part of your search team?
A: No.
Q: What was he doing:
A: He was at the scene. I had no idea what he was doing there or why
he was there. He was just at the scene when PC Sawyer and I arrived."
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