MURDERED BY NOVICHOK SAVED!
Woman, 44, poisoned by Russian nerve agent is dead
NOVICHOK victim Dawn Sturgess died last night – more than a week after coming into contact with the nerve agent. Detectives have begun a murder investigation into the death of the 44-year-old mother of three.
Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, 45, is still in a critical condition. The couple became unwell on June 30 after handling a contaminated item thought to have been discarded following the Novichok attack on ex-KGB spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4.
Mrs Sturgess spent nine days in intensive care in the Wiltshire town, where she was initially thought to have overdosed on drugs. However, she is now known to have been poisoned by the Russian-made nerve agent.
Ewan Hope, her 19-year-old son, revealed at the weekend that his mother had a heart attack while in hospital.
Neil Basu, Scotland Yard’s assistant commissioner for counter-terrorism, described the poisoning as ‘an outrageous, reckless and barbaric act’. Britain has blamed the Russian state for the Skripal poisonings.
A WOMAN who was exposed to the Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury has died, just over a week after she was rushed to hospital.
Dawn Sturgess fell ill at a house in Amesbury, Wiltshire, about eight miles from Salisbury, after handling a contaminated item.
Last night the Metropolitan Police confirmed it had launched a murder inquiry.
Mrs Sturgess, 44, spent more than a week in Salisbury District Hospital’s intensive care unit where it was initially believed she had overdosed on drugs, before it was suspected she had been poisoned by a nerve agent. Samples were sent to Porton Down, the UK’s chemical weapons testing facility, which confirmed it was Novichok.
It comes four months after the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury.
Mrs Sturgess is the first person to die in relation to the poisonings, which has seen five people treated for exposure to Novichok. Yulia Skripal was discharged from hospital in April, and Mr Skripal was discharged in May. Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey was also treated for exposure to the nerve agent, but has since recovered.
Mrs Sturgess’s death will heighten tensions between Russia and the UK. Theresa May has said British officials will not attend the World Cup in Russia and Kensington Palace has confirmed that Prince William, the president of the FA, will also stay away.
British diplomat Julian King, the European Commissioner responsible for the EU’s security union, said: ‘Those behind this are murderers.’
Mrs Sturgess had been at the Amesbury home of her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, 45, when paramedics were called on Saturday, June 30. A friend of the couple, Sam Hobson, described how she appeared to have suffered a fit and was ‘foaming at the mouth’. Mr Rowley remains in a critical condition in hospital. Ewan Hope, Mrs Sturgess’s 19-year-old son, revealed at the weekend that his mother had suffered a heart attack while in intensive care.
An investigation is being led by detectives from the Counter Terrorism Policing Network and about 100 detectives are working round the clock alongside colleagues from Wiltshire Police. Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: ‘This is shocking and tragic
news. Dawn leaves behind her family, including three children, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this extremely difficult time. This terrible news has only served to strengthen our resolve to identify and bring to justice the person or persons responsible for what I can only describe as an outrageous, reckless and barbaric act.
‘Detectives will continue with their painstaking and meticulous work to gather all the available evidence so that we can understand how two citizens came to be exposed with such a deadly substance that tragically cost Dawn her life.’
Last night, the Prime Minister was among the first to pay tribute to Mrs Sturgess and added that the Government would not abandon the residents of Salisbury, who have been left in fear that there could be further incidents to come. Mrs May said: ‘I am appalled and shocked by the death of Dawn Sturgess, and my thoughts and condolences go to her family and loved ones.
‘Police and security officials are working urgently to establish the facts of this incident, which is now being investigated as a murder.
‘The Government is committed to providing full support to the local community as it deals with this tragedy.’
There is no evidence that Mrs Sturgess or Mr rowley visited any of the sites that were decontaminated following the attempted murders of the Skripals in March.
Police were continuing their desperate search for the source of the deadly nerve agent yesterday – but admitted the hunt could take months. Investigators wearing hazmat suits and gas masks were seen entering the hostel where Mrs Sturgess was living in Salisbury city centre.
Forensic tents have been put up outside the building, which has been sealed off with steel barriers. Fire crews also joined police at the home of Mr rowley in amesbury.
one neighbour said they were being swabbed for signs of nerve agent poisoning and another said they had been told to have an ‘intensive shower’.
Staff at Salisbury District Hospital ‘did everything they could’ to save Mrs burgess, medical director Dr Christine blanshard said.
She added: ‘The loss of a loved one is one of the hardest things in life to deal with, and so I would ask the media to respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time. The staff here at Salisbury District Hospital worked tirelessly to save Dawn.’