Weapons expert Dr David Kelly killed himself because his self-esteem was shattered amid fears people had lost trust in him, Lord Hutton concludes in his report.
The scientist may also have been dismayed at his massive and sudden exposure in the media which such a private man would have seen as a public disgracing, the former law lord said.
The comments came as Lord Hutton concluded that Dr Kelly took his own life in a wood in Oxfordshire last year following the disclosing of him as the source for BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan's radio broadcast alleging the British government had sexed up a dossier on Iraq.
While criticising the Ministry of Defence for flaws in handling its employee once he had been identified in public, Lord Hutton said the scientist was "not an easy man to help" and that the government had not carried out any underhand strategy to name him.
Dr Kelly committed suicide sometime between 4.15 p.m. on July 17th and 1.15 a.m. on July 18th last year. He killed himself by slashing his left wrist and death was hastened by Co-proxamol tablets he had taken, Lord Hutton concluded as he ruled out any third-party involvement.
He also stressed that none of the parties later involved in the Hutton Inquiry were "at fault in not contemplating that Dr Kelly might take his own life".
Lord Hutton added: "Whatever pressures and strains Dr Kelly was subjected to by the decisions and actions taken in the weeks before his death, I am satisfied that no one realised or should have realised that those pressures and strains might drive him to take his own life or contribute to his decision to do so."
Dr Kelly met Mr Gilligan at the Charing Cross Hotel in London on May 22nd last year and was to later admit to his MoD bosses the meeting was "unauthorised".
He was identified in the press in July of that year after the MoD confirmed him as the possible source to journalists who put his name to press officers.
Days before his death, the scientist appeared before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in public and the Intelligence and Security Committee in private to be grilled about his meeting.
In deciding on what caused Dr Kelly to take his own life, Lord Hutton said he accepted the conclusions of suicide expert Prof Keith Hawton which he gave in evidence when he appeared before the inquiry.
Prof Hawton had told the inquiry: "The major factor was the severe loss of self-esteem, resulting from his feeling that people had lost trust in him and from his dismay at being exposed to the media."
Lord Hutton concluded that Dr Kelly's meeting with Mr Gilligan was unauthorised.
Lord Hutton concluded his report by paying tribute to Dr Kelly, whom he described as "a devoted husband and father and a public servant who served his country and the international community with great distinction". - (PA)