MoD prepares to fight Kelly compensation claim
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent and Matt Born
(Filed: 05/01/2004)
The Ministry of Defence has set up a team of lawyers to prepare for the outcome of the Hutton Inquiry by examining ways of countering any attempt by David Kelly's widow Janice to claim compensation over his death.
Mrs Kelly could claim a substantial sum for her husband's apparent suicide after he was exposed as the source of a BBC report that the Government's dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction had been "sexed up".
She could sue the MoD for the loss of her husband, his salary as a Government scientist, and possible future earnings.
Martin Hemming, who is heading the team, refused to comment yesterday on reports that it is planning to "fight dirty" by smearing the scientist, suggesting that he was mentally unstable for the last two years of his life.
An MoD spokesman said: "I cannot say what we might do if [Mrs Kelly] decides she wants to take action against us. It is really down to her whether she wants to take us to court."
While preparations to counter such a claim would be normal contingency planning, defence sources questioned whether many of the officials driving the MoD's response to Dr Kelly's suicide would still be in their posts after Lord Hutton delivers a report that is bound to be highly critical.
"You also have to wonder whether any attempt to portray David Kelly as mentally unstable would be a sensible approach," one source said.
"Not only did they get themselves into a terrible mess over the existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction but they did so knowing that one of the leading advisers was mentally unstable."
There was also controversy yesterday over the BBC's possible response if Lord Hutton criticises the corporation for its original story by the Today reporter Andrew Gilligan and its subsequent response to the affair.
The BBC reacted angrily to claims that its head of radio news, Stephen Mitchell, was being lined up as a fall guy for the corporation's role.
Richard Sambrook, the BBC director of news, said the article, which appeared in The Independent on Sunday, was "plain wrong".
Speculation that BBC chiefs were looking for someone to carry the blame have been rife since a senior executive last week refused to rule out resignations at the corporation over the Hutton Inquiry.
But the BBC yesterday insisted that the remarks by Caroline Thomson, its director of public policy, had been taken out of context.
Gilligan also issued a statement yesterday denying reports that claimed he was threatening to reveal how his bosses had urged him to "out" Dr Kelly, if they forced him to resign over Lord Hutton's report.
"It is outrageous to suggest that I am threatening anyone in the BBC," he said. Claims that he was in talks with publishers over a book about the Kelly affair were also unfounded, he said.
Is this those nice people who stitched-up The Chinook Crew