British Defence Secretary Mr Geoff Hoon ignored advice that he move to protect weapons expert Dr David Kelly just days before he committed suicide, the inquiry into his death has revealed.
The revelation will pile more pressure on Mr Hoon, a staunch ally of Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has faced questions over how the quiet scientist was named as the suspected source of a BBC report accusing Mr Blair of exaggerating Iraq's weapons threat.
A memorandum shown to the inquiry headed by senior judge Lord Hutton showed that the Ministry of Defence's top civil servant recommended Mr Hoon "resist the Foreign Affairs Committee request for Kelly to appear". It said he was "not used to being thrown into the public eye".
But Mr Hoon's private office replied that "presentationally" it would be difficult to reject the request.
Dr Kelly, looking uncomfortable in the public spotlight, appeared before the committee on July 15th. Two days later he apparently committed suicide in a quiet woodland site near his home.
His boss Mr Bryan Wells told the inquiry he had "expressed some concern about the publicity that would be surrounding an open interview before the foreign affairs committee".
A poll this week showed 41 per cent of the British public blamed the British government for Iraq expert Mr Kelly's death and 68 per cent think the government was dishonest over the Iraq war.
Mr Blair, currently on holiday in Barbados, and Mr Hoon are both due to give evidence to Hutton's inquiry. Their furious denial of BBC allegations that Mr Blair's communications chief Mr Alastair Campbell "sexed up" a pre-war dossier on Iraq's lethal weapons led to Dr Kelly being thrust into the limelight.