Their murderous task completed, the Kremlin assassins find time for a little window shopping
IT was only a few minutes after they left behind traces of the novichok nerve agent in the hope of killing Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
But, despite their murderous activities, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were clearly calm enough to do a spot of window shopping.
The Russian hitmen can be seen peering at foreign coins through the window of a collectables store on their way back to Salisbury railway station to make their escape.
The pair look through the window of Dauwalders before talking to each other and seeing a sign which says some coins are on sale for 10p.
The footage, obtained by MailOnline, shows them approach the door as if to take a look inside before they realise the shop is closed. They then continue towards the station.
Paul Dauwalder, who owns the business, said he was relieved the store was closed as usual on Sunday, March 4. He said: ‘I’m glad we weren’t open or we would have had forensics all over the place by now.
‘It was a Sunday and they had just attempted a murder, but they still tried to come in the shop. They might be murderers but that doesn’t mean they are intellectually dead. From the way they were behaving, they looked like coin enthusiasts or collectors.’
The store owner added: ‘If it had been midweek and we were open, they would have come into the shop and we would have served them. The mind boggles. I’m just glad we were closed.’
His son Chris, 28, added: ‘There is no danger of contamination as they didn’t come into the shop. We have a window cleaner once a week and he’s still all right, so it’s probably safe.’
The footage is an insight into the nonchalant behaviour of the assassins shortly after they carried out attempted murder at the home of former double agent Mr Skripal.