Public inquiry opens in Britain into death of woman caught in Russian nerve agent attack

An independent public inquiry began on Monday into the fatal Novichok poisoning of Dawn Sturgess in 2018. File photo by Rick Findler/EPA-EFE.

October 14 (UPI) – An independent public inquiry was launched in Salisbury, England, on Monday to try to uncover the fatal Novichok poisoning of a British woman in 2018, four months after a failed assassination attempt on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripol in the same city. .

The judge-led inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess, 44, will take place from Monday to Friday, hearing from witnesses and focusing on the police and emergency services response and investigation, with a further two weeks in London from 4 on November 15th. in postmortem and pathology reports and in the expert hearing, according to a press release.

The post-mortem concluded the cause of death was Novichok poisoning, but the hearings, chaired by Lord Hughes of Ombersley, will investigate the circumstances leading to Sturgess’ death, work to find out who is responsible and make recommendations.

As part of the investigation, there will be five days of hearings, from October 28 to November 1, at the International Dispute Resolution Center in London into the poisoning of Skripal, then 67, and his daughter Yulia, who was almost died after Novichok was planted. at Skripal’s home in March 2018.

Sturgess’ partner Charlie Rowley was also hospitalized after the pair handled a discarded perfume bottle containing Novichok and Wilshire police officer Nick Bailey, who attended the crime scene, suffered life-changing injuries after being exposed to the agent nervous.

The inquiry will mostly be “open” – conducted publicly – but some days it will be “closed” – held behind closed doors – without the public or press present due to secrecy restrictions surrounding certain witnesses and national security restrictions.

In 2021, following a three-year investigation by the Metropolitan Police, British authorities charged three Russians in absentia with the poisonings. Moscow denied having anything to do with the attack and refused to hand over the suspects.

The charges included murder, grievous bodily harm and illegal possession and use of a chemical weapon.