‘Perfume’ gift was novichok says grieving poison victim
NOVICHOK victim Charlie Rowley last night revealed the nerve agent took just 15 minutes to poison his partner after he gave her a perfume bottle as a present.
Mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess, 44, fell critically ill and died in hospital after spraying the “oily” substance on her wrists believing it was a fragrance.
Mr Rowley, 45, believes he may have had the bottle in his home for a couple of days.
He said the glass bottle and plastic dispenser were in a cardboard box with plastic moulding, and that Ms Sturgess had recognised the brand.
She died on July 8 after the pair fell ill on June 30 having been exposed to novichok containedin a bottle later found in Mr Rowley’s home in Amesbury, Wilts.
He said: “I remember finding a cosmetic bottle which I had picked up and given to Dawn as a present. I do have a memory of her spraying it on her wrists and rubbing them together. I guess that’s how she applied it and became ill. I guess how I got in contact with it is when I put the spray part to the bottle...I ended tipping some on my hands, but I washed it off under the tap.
“It had an oily substance and I smelled it and it didn’t smell of perfume. It felt oily. I washed it off and I didn’t think anything of it. It all happened so quick.
“Within 15 minutes Dawn said she had a headache. She asked me if I had any headache tablets. In that time she said she felt peculiar and needed to lie down in the bath. I went into the bathroom and found her in the bath, fully clothed, in a very ill state.”
Mr Rowley said in interviews that he could not recall where he found the perfume box but believed it “looked expensive”. He added: “Unfortunately it turned out to be a bad find.” He described Ms Sturgess as a “lovely lady” and a “wonderful woman”, and said she had planned to move to Amesbury from John Baker House, her sheltered accommodation in Salisbury, within two weeks.
Mr Rowley also said he still feels to blame for what happened to her but criticised the “irresponsible people” who left the poison for anybody to pick up.
He said: “I’m very angry at the whole incident.”
The revelations come as police announced the cordon at Ms Sturgess’s home would be lifted after investigators found no contamination risk at the building.
Mr Rowley and Ms Sturgess were victims of the second nerve agent incident in four months after the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.