Weapons expert grilled second time after Blair intervention

BRITISH Government weapons expert David Kelly was made to undergo a second grilling by Ministry of Defence managers over his contacts with a BBC journalist after the intervention of Prime Minister Tony Blair, the inquiry into his death heard yesterday.

The inquiry, headed by Lord Hutton, heard that following Mr Blair’s intervention, Dr Kelly was summoned back to London from a training day for a trip he was preparing to make to Iraq to join the hunt for Saddam Hussein’s banned weapons.

But even the second examination (after civil servants had assumed the matter was closed) did not go far enough for chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee John Scarlett who recommended Dr Kelly should face a “security style” interview.