Arms expert’s death will haunt Blair
Dr David Kelly, an official adviser on Iraqi arms, is believed to have killed himself after a week of intense political pressure, where he was seen by many as a scapegoat for the Labour Government.
Dr Kelly said goodbye to his wife, Janice, on Thursday afternoon at 3pm and said he was going for a walk. He had been grilled on Tuesday by a House of Commons Committee about his meeting with a BBC journalist. By 11.45pm he had failed to return, and Janice and the couple's children, eldest daughter Sian, 32, and twins Rachel and Ellen, 30, contacted the police. Yesterday morning, as Mr Blair flew from Washington to Tokyo, he was informed of the discovery of the body about five miles from Dr Kelly's home in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. No note was found either at the scene or at Dr Kelly's house. Dr Kelly was not a licensed firearms holder, a police spokesman said in response to questions about whether he had died of gunshot wounds.
