Paul Weaving and the 17th July

The official narrative leads us to believe that the only person to see Dr Kelly after he left his home during the mid afternoon of 17th July was neighbour Ruth Absalom.  Yet the Guardian and the Scotsman editions of 19th July and the Observer on the following day state that he was also seen by Paul Weaver, a farmer.  It is now generally agreed that the name given was incorrect and that the person concerned was Paul Weaving, a friend of the Kellys.  "Weaver" is a much more common surname than "Weaving" which might be a reason why the reporters got it wrong, however the fact that all three stories used the name Weaver suggests the possibility that the story originated from the same single source.

This is how each paper recorded the story as part of longer pieces:

Guardian (Steven Morris and Hugh Muir)

Paul Weaver, a farmer, may have been the last person to see him, as the scientist walked through farmland to the north of the A420, a few minutes from his home. Dr Kelly seemed happy enough and smiled at the farmer.

Dr Kelly's family was surprised when he did not return within a few hours. Though he often walked for two or three hours, he was not wont to go for long hikes alone. He had left home in just a cotton shirt and jeans. It was not cold but it was dull and rainy.

During the late afternoon and early evening Mrs Kelly began asking around the village. Mr Weaver heard that Dr Kelly had vanished and phoned a councillor, John Melling, to tell him where he had seen Dr Kelly. The pair began searching the fields, footpaths and lanes between Southmoor and the village of Longworth. They found no trace of their friend. 

The Scotsman (Karen McVeigh and Paul Gallagher)
Paul Weaver, a farmer, was possibly the last person to see the scientist alive, as he made his way alone along a country footpath at the edge of his farm. It was shortly after 3pm when the sighting was made.  
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His wife, who is understood to be suffering from arthritis, waited a few more anxious hours before she called the police at about 11:45pm, and a search involving dozens of police officers and neighbours was launched.

Susan Melling, a neighbour, said the farmer, Mr Weaver, knocked on their door and her husband joined him in the search party.

"Mr Weaver called around and told us what had happened," she said. "He said that he had seen Dr Kelly on his walk on Thursday afternoon because he was near his farmland at the time.

"He was seen on the other side of the A420 road which runs just north of the village. My husband told me they would be searching all the way to the village of Longworth, which was the nearest village to where he was heading."  

The Observer

Paul Weaver, a local farmer, did see him, however. He greeted Kelly as he strode through the fields north of the A420 close to his home, but there was nothing to indicate he was troubled. 'He smiled and said hello,' Weaver recalled.  

This is number 41 in the schedule of responses to issues raised on the Attorney General's website http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/Publications/Documents/Schedule%20of%20responses%20to%20issues%20raised.pdf

Issue

It was reported that a Mr Paul Weaving may have been the last person to see Dr Kelly alive.  Despite this he was not called to give evidence. 

Response

This appears to be based on a story in The Guardian published the day after the body was discovered, "Paul Weaver (sic), a farmer, may have been the last person to see him ... Dr Kelly seemed happy enough and smiled at the farmer."  The article does not source this quote but gives the impression it is Mr Weaving himself.

Mr Weaving was interviewed by police on the 20th July 2003.  He had known Dr Kelly for 20 years and did not see him that day.  He had been supervising grass cutting on Harrowdown Hill and describes one man he saw who was walking a dog.  Police Statement - "I left the Longworth area at around 7pm and returned home.  Apart from the man walking his dog as previously described, I saw nobody else whilst there."

I have been told that the grass being cut was the field to the east of the wood on Harrowdown Hill, in fact the field where the white tent was erected and various vehicles ultimately parked as seen on much of the video footage.  It's very interesting that Dr Kelly managed to walk up to the wood without Mr Weaving spotting him.

The Scotsman quoted Susan Melling directly, this makes it difficult to believe that Mr Weaving didn't see Dr Kelly earlier.  However  Norman Baker in his book records that Rowena Thursby was informed in an email from Mr Weaving: "the early reports were wrong. I did not see David on the day he went missing".(Rowena wrote one of the first blogs about the death of Dr Kelly).

It looks then as if the press got their story wrong about Mr Weaving seeing Dr Kelly on the 17th.  The alternative as I see it is that Mr Weaving was leaned on; this would be very worrying.

Looking at the evidence tab on the Hutton website and clicking on the Thames Valley Police link it can be seen that there is no witness statement from Mr Weaving.  There is this though: "Minute to Paul Wearing 19/07/03 - not for release - Police operational information.  TVP/3/0098 -0099".  Some folk think that "Wearing" here should be "Weaving".  I beg to differ, I can't imagine a minute being sent to Paul Weaving whatever "minute" might mean in this context. 

Even if Mr Weaving hadn't seen Dr Kelly that day I would have thought that the fact he was supervising grass cutting at Harrowdown Hill would have been good reason to have his written statement at the Inquiry.  However it musn't be forgotten that witnesses could demand that their statements didn't go forward to the Inquiry and perhaps Mr Weaving used this option.

It's known that some witnesses did withold their statements and this makes an absolute mockery of Hutton saying he had no problems with compellability.  I can't imagine that with an inquest a witness could be given such an escape route.