The repositioning of the left arm (2)

In my last post I had discussed the position of the left arm ... as seen by Louise Holmes, Vanessa Hunt and Dave Bartlett.  Paul Chapman was much further away from the body when first discovered and doesn't help us with this aspect.  This post will look at the evidence of Dr Hunt and Mr Green.  They both spent many hours at Harrowdown Hill and each wrote reports so therefore a clear picture of the scene during the afternoon should have emerged.

In his report of 25 July Dr Hunt wrote:

His left, upper arm was in line with the shoulder, with the elbow flexed, and his left hand pointing down towards his feet.  His right upper arm lay at his side with the right elbow flexed and the right fist clenched over the right chest area.

A little further on, under 'Adjacent scene' is this:

Lying adjacent to the left shoulder/upper arm was a 'Barbour' cap with the lining side uppermost.  There was blood over the lining and also the peak.

Lying near his left hand, on the grass, was a black resin-strapped wristwatch; presumably a digital watch, lying face down and showing some bloodstaining.

Lying adjacent to this was a white metal 'Sandvik' pruning-type knife, or gardener's knife, with its blade extended from the handle.  There was bloodstaining over both the handles and the blade and a pool of blood beneath the knife which was approximately 8-10 by approximately 4-5 cms.

Lying propped against some broken branches, to the deceased's left and about 1' from his left elbow was an open bottle of 'Evian' water (500 mls).  The top lay close by but further away from the deceased.  There was some smeared blood over the bottle and over the bottle top.

There was bloodstaining and a pool of blood in an area running from the left arm of the deceased for a total distance of in the order of 2'-3'.  There was also a patch of possible bloodstaining on the ground near the left hip region.

Mr Green reporting on 27 September simply says about the arm positions:

His right hand was up to his right chest and his left was angled in towards his waist.

After mentioning an area of bloodstaining by the left hip and that it was sampled Mr Green says

Next to this area was a bloodstained wristwatch (AMH.4) and a metal penknife (AMH.5) which had its blade exposed.

Next to the deceased's left shoulder was a Barbour cap (AMH.6).  Beyond this, approximately 25 cm from the left shoulder was an almost empty Evian water bottle (AMH.2) and 12 cm further on was its top (AMH.3).  Each of these items appeared to be smeared with blood, indicating that the deceased was already injured when these items were handled.

It's quite clear isn't it that by the time Dr Hunt and Mr Green are examining the scene that the left elbow is flexed, to the extent that the left hand is now pointing towards the feet.

PC Franklin and PC Sawyer self evidently saw the body and the arms in the different positions and that has to be remembered when looking at their evidence at the Inquiry.  They were examined on the morning of 2 September whilst the ambulance crew were on the way to London so that, as with the civilian searchers, any conflict between their testimonies and that of the paramedics wouldn't be a concern for Hutton.

This from Franklin:

He was lying on his back with his right hand to his side and his left hand was sort of inverted with the palm facing down (Indicates), facing up on his back.

Sawyer's turn:

The right arm was by the side. The left arm was palm down. There was a large amount of blood on the back of the left arm. There was a watch and a curved knife by that wrist.

In his police witness statement Franklin states:

All persons left the scene and PC SAWYER and I noted that the deceased had an apparent cut to his left arm, his wristwatch and a knife were lying close to the left arm, also at the scene was a bottle of water.

In summary:  Dr Hunt/Mr Green have the left elbow flexed.  The watch and knife it was decided had to be relocated near the new position of the left hand, this time making sure that the watch strap wasn't on top of the knife.  The water bottle was left more or less where it was.  If the left lower arm, knife and watch were in their final positions when the ambulance team attended then  Vanessa Hunt would have been blocked in getting to the left hand side of Dr Kelly's body.  Franklin and Sawyer could safely say that the palm was facing down as the paramedics weren't in court at the time.  Neither Franklin nor Sawyer state the position of the left arm relative to the body, they only mention that it was with the palm facing down.

Hutton and Thames Valley Police worked hard on this part of the cover up (the position of the left arm) but it hasn't been enough - thanks largely to the integrity of Vanessa Hunt and Dave Bartlett.