Perfume bottle found by Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess could have killed 'thousands', inquiry hears
14 October 2024, 12:35 | Updated: 14 October 2024, 13:24
Thousands of people could have been killed by the Salisbury poisonings, an inquiry heard.
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Ms Sturgess sprayed herself with the deadly nerve agent Novichok, believing it to be perfume, in July 2018.
The perfume bottle carrying the Russian nerve agent that fatally poisoned Ms Sturgess contained "enough poison to kill thousands of people", the inquiry into her death was told.
Andrew O'Connor KC, counsel to the Dawn Sturgess inquiry, said: "A particularly shocking feature of Dawn's death is that she unwittingly applied the poison to her own skin.
Read more: What were the Salisbury Poisonings? Inquiry opens into Novichok death
"She was entirely unaware of the mortal danger she faced, because the highly toxic liquid had been concealed - carefully and deliberately concealed - inside a perfume bottle.
"Moreover, 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 public place creating the obvious risk that someone would find it and take it home.
"You may conclude, sir, that those who discarded the bottle in this way acted with a grotesque disregard for human life."
Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with Novichok in Salisbury in March 2018 alongside his daughter Yulia and ex-police officer Nick Bailey, was born in Russia and served as a paratrooper, and later as a member of the GRU - Russian Military Intelligence, the inquiry heard.
He was convicted in Russia on espionage charges in 2004 after he was alleged to have spied for Britain, Andrew O'Connor KC, counsel to the inquiry, said.
Mr Skripal was sentenced to 13 years in prison but in 2010 he was given a presidential pardon and brought to the UK on a prisoner exchange, he added.
He had lived in Salisbury since 2010.
He told the inquiry today that he believed Vladimir Putin was behind the attack.
A police interview transcript shown at the inquiry had Skripal as saying "It was his private opinion" that Putin was directly responsible.
