Kelly's mentor refused to give statement

By David Charter and Laura Peek

Evidence: The Police

MAI PEDERSON, the American linguist who introduced David Kelly to the Baha’i faith, refused to make a statement to police about their friendship, the Hutton inquiry was told yesterday.

Ms Pederson, 43, who has denied a romantic link with Dr Kelly, was one of 12 close contacts contacted by police.

“She declined to give a statement as such but I have a record of the interviews that took place,” Assistant Chief Constable Michael Page, of Thames Valley Police, told the inquiry. “The conversation added nothing that was of relevance to my inquiry.”

Ms Pederson, an Arab-American military linguist, met Dr Kelly five years ago while working as his trans-lator on a mission to Iraq.

Police took 300 statements, seized more than 700 documents and found nothing of relevance in Dr Kelly’s phone and e-mail records.

Dr Kelly’s fingerprints were not on a letter from Richard Hatfield, the MoD personnel director, found unopened in his study. It warned that disciplinary action could follow if new material came to light.