Dog handler 'found Kelly body'

A volunteer dog handler working with a police search team told today how she found the body of weapons expert Dr David Kelly slumped against a tree in woods near his home.

Louise Holmes told the Hutton Inquiry investigating Dr Kelly's death that her dog Brock picked up a scent 200 yards into the woods and then barked to alert her to something he had found.

She said: "I could see a body slumped against the bottom of a tree."

Ms Holmes said she stood "within a few feet of the body".

She continued: "He was at the base of the tree with almost his head on his shoulders, just slumped back against the tree.

"His legs were straight in front of him, his right arm was to the side of him, his left arm had a lot of blood on it and was bent back in a funny position."

Dead

Ms Holmes said she was convinced the body was that of the missing scientist, that he was dead "and there was nothing I could do to help him".

She said she was there for "probably only a couple of minutes", just long enough to check for

signs of life.

Ms Holmes then turned round and walked back out of the woods following the path she took in as best she could, she said.

Asked if there were any signs of the route Dr Kelly had taken through the trees, she replied: "Not that I remember seeing."

Earlier, Ms Holmes, a trainer with the charity Hearing Dogs For Deaf People, who is also a member of a search and rescue team in Oxfordshire, said when she began her search at 8am on July 18 - the day after Dr Kelly went missing - she did not know who the weapons expert was.

Both Dr Kelly's neighbour, Ruth Absolom, and his GP Dr Malcolm Warner, have also given evidence today.

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