Mother killed by nerve agent was caught up in global murder plot, court told

A British woman who died after being exposed to the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent was unwittingly caught up in an “illegal and outrageous international murder attempt”, a public inquiry was told on Monday.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, mother of three, died in July 2018 after spraying herself with what she thought was the perfume from a discarded vial containing the deadly chemical weapon.

His death followed a failed poison attack on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, southwest England. The UK government said it was “highly likely” Russia was behind the conspiracy.

This photo provided by the Metropolitan Police shows Dawn Sturgess. / Credit: AP

Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury in March 2018. They survived after intensive hospital treatment and are now living under protection.

Skripal was accused by Russia of spying for Britain’s MI6 and arrested in 2006, the BBC reported. He was later pardoned and allowed to settle in the UK in 2010.

His wife, son and older brother died two years before the 2018 attack, the BBC reported. Yulia Skripal arrived in the UK from Moscow the day before.

At the start of public hearings into Sturgess’ death in Salisbury, lawyer Andrew O’Connor said the perfume bottle contained enough Novichok to poison “thousands” of people.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the circumstances of Dawn Sturgess’ death were extraordinary,” he told the hearing.

“When Ms. Sturgess was poisoned by Novichok four months after Skripal’s poisoning, the real possibility arose that she had been caught – an innocent victim – in the crossfire of an illegal and scandalous international assassination attempt,” he added.

UK authorities believe the agents targeting the Skripals threw away the perfume bottle, making the two cases “inextricably intertwined.”

The attempt to kill Skripal, against whom Russian President Vladimir Putin swore revenge, plunged London-Moscow relations to a new low.

Britain blames the Novichok attack on two Russian security service officers who allegedly entered the country using false passports.

Putin denied any involvement and the two accused appeared on Russian television, where they insisted they had visited Salisbury as tourists wanting to see the cathedral’s tower.

A third Russian citizen was named as the mastermind of the operation.

All three are believed to be members of the Russian intelligence agency GRU. Russia, whose constitution does not allow extradition, denied involvement and classified the investigation as a “circus”.

“It is highly unlikely that justice will happen”

Six years later, relations between the countries – already strained by allegations that Russia was behind the radioactive poisoning of the former agent in 2006 Alexander Litvinenko – remain frozen.

The Sturgess inquiry will include closed sessions to investigate “private material” and intelligence relating to the case. The Skripals will not be giving live evidence due to security concerns.

Sturgess’ family was “particularly concerned” that the UK government had taken adequate measures to protect the Skripals and the general public from collateral damage, according to O’Connor.

A Facebook file photo is believed to show Yulia Skripal, daughter of former Russian soldier and British spy Sergei Skripal, who fought for their lives after suspected poisoning in Salisbury, England, on March 3, 2018 . / Credit: Facebook

International arrest warrants were issued for the suspects, but Theresa May, who was prime minister at the time of the attack, warned that justice was unlikely.

She told the BBC last week that she hoped the inquiry would help “Dawn Sturgess’s family and friends feel like they got to the truth”.

But “closure for all those affected would only finally come with justice, and that justice is highly unlikely to happen,” May added.

The Salisbury incident resulted in the largest-ever expulsion of diplomats between Western powers and Russia, and a limited round of Western sanctions.

These sanctions have now been surpassed by the West’s response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Catherine Roper said it was “important to remember that at the heart of this investigation are Dawn’s family and loved ones, whose lives have been irreversibly changed”.

“The aim is to provide Dawn’s family, friends and wider communities in Wiltshire with the opportunity to access the fullest possible information about Dawn’s death,” she added.

Sturgess’ family will give evidence on Tuesday.