Two ‘super spotters’ led novichok hunt

TWO detectives with a rare skill in memorising faces have spearheaded the search for two Russians suspected of carrying out the Salisbury nerve agent attack, it emerged yesterday.

The officers from Scotland Yard’s unique ‘super recognisers squad’ are thought to have played a vital role in identifying the suspects. They were dispatched to Salisbury at the start of the investigation into the novichok attack that left one person dead and three seriously ill.

Detectives are said to have tracked the movements of the suspects in and out of the UK around the time of the attack in early March by trawling through 5,000 hours of CCTV footage.

Former detective chief inspector Mick Neville, who set up the squad, said: ‘The two super recognisers were deployed immediately because of their special skills and they are still on the case. I’ve no doubt they’ve played a key role.

‘They have an innate skill – you can’t buy it and you can’t teach it. They have a highly unusual ability in remembering faces, whether it’s from a picture, a bit of film or someone they’ve met.’

Mr Neville said it was likely the detectives were shown photos of Russian agents operating in the UK and searched CCTV images for their presence in Salisbury. They then matched images of suspects with images of passengers at airports before and after the attack.