The pathologist who performed the autopsy on the government scientist David Kelly said today his death was a textbook case of suicide but he would have "dearly loved" to have found evidence of murder.

Nicholas Hunt, a Home Office pathologist, told the Sunday Times he had been horrified at the treatment of Kelly by the Labour government.

He spent eight hours examining the 59-year-old's body for evidence of murder but found nothing to support that theory.

Hunt said he would back an inquest into the circumstances of Kelly's death.

Prominent legal and medical experts have called for a new inquest to be opened into the weapons inspector's death. The coalition is considering the possibility.

"I felt very, very sorry for David Kelly and was horrified by the way he had been treated by the government ... I had every reason to look for something untoward and would dearly love to have found something," Hunt said.

"It was an absolute classic case of self-inflicted injury. You could illustrate a textbook with it. If it were anyone else and you were to suggest there's something foul about it, you would be referred for additional training. I would welcome an inquest – I've nothing to hide."

Hunt also disclosed details from his postmorterm report, which the Hutton inquiry ordered should be kept secret for 70 years.

He found "big clots" of blood on the inside of Kelly's jacket, contrary to reports that there had been little blood at the scene. There were about a dozen cuts on his left wrist, including shallower cuts made before the main incisions.

Kelly's heart disease was so advanced that he could have died at any moment, according to the postmortem.

His body was found in woods near his Oxfordshire home in 2003, shortly after it was revealed that he had been the source of a BBC report casting doubt on the government's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that could be fired within 45 minutes.

An inquest was suspended by Lord Falconer, the then lord chancellor, before the Hutton inquiry into the circumstances of Kelly's death.

The inquest was not resumed after Hutton's report, in 2004, concluded that Kelly killed himself by cutting an artery in his wrist.

In a letter to the Times earlier this month, nine experts said the official cause of death was "extremely unlikely" and called for a full inquest.

The former Conservative leader, Michael Howard, joined the call for a full inquest last week.

The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, is considering the possibility of an inquest.