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Kelly mysterious electro pads { August 1 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3117257.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3117257.stm
Last Updated: Friday, 1 August, 2003, 16:38 GMT 17:38 UK
Media focus falls on Kelly inquiry
By Jackie Storer
BBC News Online political staff at the Hutton Inquiry
Almost two weeks to the hour when news was filtering through that a body found at an Oxfordshire beauty spot was almost certainly that of David Kelly, a courtroom full of people stood silently to honour his memory.
A top judge, eminent barristers, court staff and journalists bowed their heads in tribute to the 59-year-old weapons expert ahead of what is likely to be a clinical probe into the lead up to his death.
Lord Hutton, the former Lord Chief Justice in Northern Ireland, said it was "only fitting" that a minute's silence was observed at 1100 BST on 1 August as "this inquiry relates to a very tragic death".
It was a poignant beginning to a monumental task that will involve interviewing the country's most powerful people - including the prime minister - to find out the truth behind why this quiet, unassuming scientist apparently took his own life.
Lord Hutton, a judge who has dealt with cases involving General Pinochet and renegade spy David Shayler, stressed that this was not a trial conducted between interested parties who have conflicting cases to advance.
Instead, in a low, steady voice, which still retains a Northern Irish lilt, the 72-year-old judge stamped his authority on the proceedings by making it clear that he would be conducting them his way.
Ad-hoc inquiry
Unlike the Bloody Sunday Inquiry presided over by Lord Saville, this probe has not been set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, and as a result Lord Hutton cannot summon witnesses or compel papers to be produced.
Outside grey skies and the intermittent drizzle that fell on the Victorian gothic building added to the feeling of grimness
But while it is a more informal, ad-hoc inquiry, relying on cooperation by interested parties, the number of QCs and legal eagles filling the modern, rather austere, magnolia-walled courtroom in London's Royal Courts of Justice, gave the aura of seriousness.
Lord Hutton's audience was sombre-suited. Some counsel watched his words as they were fed on to computer screens, atop functional, MFI-type desks.
Most reporters resorted to lower-tech means and busily scribbled the address down on well-thumbed notebooks.
Outside grey skies and the intermittent drizzle that fell on the Victorian gothic building added to the feeling of grimness.
Television appeal
After a 35 minute address, Lord Hutton had detailed who he wanted to talk to, including Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan and Dr Kelly's widow Janice.
He revealed how the scientist had been found in Harrowdown Hill, just three short miles from his Oxfordshire home, with, mysteriously, four electrocardiogram electrode pads on his chest and a cut to his left wrist.
Pathologist Nicholas Hunt had also found that he had a significant degree of coronary artery disease which may have played some small part in the rapidity of his death, although was not the cause.
The mood was given a lighter lift as Geoffrey Robertson QC, representing ITN and Sky News, appealed to the judge to allow the evidence of the inquiry's more public witnesses to be broadcast.
He risked upsetting watching hacks from the printed press, as he argued that television was "often a truer medium" able to portray tone of voice and body language, while newspaper reports were open to "distortion".
He claimed 65% of people receive news from the television and prompted laughter when he said only 11% of readers regarded one tabloid paper as truthful, compared with 65% of those who favour a particular broadsheet.
Cartoons
He also warned that if TV cameras were not able to broadcast the proceedings, they would be forced to rely on the account from "a somewhat breathless young reporter" outside the courtroom and backed up by an artist's impression of the scene inside.
He provoked a raised eyebrow and a frosty stare from at least one court artist, when he described her work as cartoons.
"How much better would it be if instead of Mr Hoon said that or the prime minister said that over a cartoon, if the prime minister was seen saying it in a particular tone of voice with a particular demeanour?" said Mr Robertson.
"The public would see it as it happens and not through an artist's impression."
Mr Robertson also conjured up the image of actors, or comics like Rory Bremner, who is known for his impression of Tony Blair, portraying his part in the events.
"There would be nothing to stop television putting Mr Bremner on with a transcript," he said.
Private grief
The courtroom was then brought back to earth by Jeremy Gompertz QC, counsel for the Kelly family, who strongly opposed the hearings being televised.
He said Dr Kelly's relatives had experienced enough distress and did not want anyone else undergoing the same ordeal as he had before his death.
Whatever Lord Hutton's decision on whether to televise the inquiry or not, the truth is it has provoked international interest.
So many reporters wanted to attend his preliminary address, that a special annexe was set up to accommodate them.
One Russian cameraman tried to explain why his country was so concerned about this UK event.
His reasoning was simple: "I think it's because it is confrontation between the government and the BBC, and because Blair and Putin are friends."
But to Dr Kelly's family, who are set to attend his funeral next Wednesday, the tragedy is an intensely private affair.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3117257.stm
Published: 2003/08/01 16:38:52 GMT
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