Kelly death facts secret for 70 years

Dr Kelly's body was found in woods close to his Oxfordshire home in 2003, shortly after it emerged that he had been the source of a BBC report casting doubt on the government's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

It was discovered this weekend that Lord Hutton, who chaired the inquiry into Dr Kelly's death, ruled that medical records including the post-mortem report would remain classified for 70 years.

A 30-year secrecy order has also been placed on written records provided to Lord Hutton's inquiry which were not produced in evidence.

An inquest into the death was suspended by then lord chancellor Lord Falconer, who ruled that Lord Hutton's inquiry could take its place.

The Hutton report concluded that Dr Kelly had killed himself by cutting an artery in his wrist. But the finding has been challenged by doctors who claim that the weapons inspector's stated injuries were not serious enough to have killed him.

Former assistant coroner Michael Powers stated that he had seen a letter from the legal team of Oxfordshire County Council explaining the unusual restrictions placed by Lord Hutton on material relating to his inquiry.

He said: "Supposedly all evidence relevant to the cause of death has been heard in public at the time of Lord Hutton's inquiry.

"If these secret reports support the suicide finding, what could they contain that could be so sensitive?"

And former surgeon David Halpin, who has also campaigned for a full inquest, told the Morning Star: "This is an attempt to subvert due process. Dr David Kelly never had an inquest in the accepted meaning of the term and now the evidence of the pseudo-inquest has been quarantined for 30 years for non-medical evidence and 70 years for medical evidence."

The Ministry of Justice said decisions on the evidence were a matter for Lord Hutton.

But Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker said: "It is astonishing that this is the first we've known about this decision by Lord Hutton and even more astonishing he should have seen fit to hide this material away."