Gilligan ‘may have increased pressure on Kelly’
Gavyn Davies told the Hutton Inquiry Mr Gilligan had been wrong to send members of the Foreign Affairs Committee an email revealing that Dr Kelly had been the source for a second BBC story, by the Newsnight journalist Susan Watts.
A friend of the scientist told the inquiry on Wednesday that Dr Kelly had been “totally thrown” when, during the evidence session on July 15, Liberal Democrat MP David Chidgey read from the email a quote he was alleged to have made to Ms Watts.
Two days after telling the committee he did not recognise the quote, and while being pressed to provide a list of his contacts with journalists, Dr Kelly embarked on the walk that would end in his death.
Mr Gilligan, who gave evidence before Lord Hutton two weeks ago, has submitted a second witness statement to the inquiry to explain the emails he sent to Mr Chidgey and a Conservative member of the FAC, Richard Ottaway.
The reporter’s future now looks uncertain as Mr Davies hinted that he would face disciplinary action. The emails were not submitted by Mr Gilligan but emerged at the inquiry last week.
Mr Davies said: “I think this is something the director general may wish to look at and come to the board of governors on.”
But when pressed by inquiry counsel James Dingemans QC on what his personal view was, the chairman said: “I certainly believe that it was wrong for any journalist to divulge the source of another journalist.
“I don’t know how Mr Gilligan could have done that because he didn’t know Susan Watts’ source, so that puzzles me.
“I would say that Mr Gilligan at this stage was under enormous pressure and probably felt that the Foreign Affairs Committee was trying to discredit him as a journalist and probably felt that he needed to take steps to counter that.
“But of course I enormously regret anything that happened at this stage which may have increased the pressures on Dr Kelly,” he said.
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