The public inquiry into the 2018 death of Dawn Sturgess, a British woman poisoned by the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok, revealed Monday that the perfume bottle she unknowingly handled contained enough poison to kill thousands of people.
Andrew O’Connor, lead counsel for the inquiry, stated, “The evidence will suggest that this bottle — which we shall hear contained enough poison to kill thousands of people — must earlier have been left somewhere in a public place creating the obvious risk that someone would find it and take it home.”
Sturgess and her partner collapsed in Amesbury, southwest England, after coming into contact with the discarded perfume bottle. Sturgess died days after spraying the contents on her wrist, while her partner survived.
The incident occurred four months after former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with Novichok in nearby Salisbury.
While the Skripals won’t testify due to safety concerns, Skripal provided a witness statement to the inquiry. He expressed shock at the attack, stating, “I had received a presidential pardon and was a free man with no convictions under Russian law. I never thought the Russian regime would try to murder me in Great Britain.”
Skripal’s statement, read by O’Connor, added, “I believe Putin makes all important decisions himself,” suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “must have at least given permission for the attack.”
Michael Mansfield, representing Sturgess’s family, questioned whether UK authorities could have prevented the attack, asking, “Was there a failure to prevent a chemical weapons attack on UK soil? Were countless members of the public put at risk, with the potential for hundreds or even thousands of deaths?”
Britain has blamed Russian intelligence for the poisonings, which Moscow denies. The public inquiry, ordered by coroner Heather Hallett, aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation into Sturgess’s death, including the consideration of sensitive intelligence material.
The inquiry continues to examine the circumstances surrounding the Novichok poisonings and their implications for public safety and international relations.
