Poison ‘was smeared on car door handle’
Sergei Skripal’s red BMW is now at the centre of the investigation into his poisoning amid claims a nerve agent was smeared on the car’s door handle.
Counter-terrorism police yesterday said there was a missing 40 minutes in the whereabouts of the former spy and his daughter Yulia in the car.
They are appealing for witnesses who may have seen the pair in the BMW 3-Series before they arrived at a Sainsbury’s car park in Salisbury at around 1.40pm on Sunday, March 4. it is not known what they did, or if they met anyone, during this time.
in an update yesterday, Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said they remained in a critical condition in hospital, days after they were found slumped on a bench in the Wiltshire city.
He said officers were working round the clock gathering evidence to identify those responsible for the ‘attempted murders’ and have so far collected 380 items. The senior officer said investigators’ ‘prime focus’ was how the nerve agent was administered – but warned that the inquiry will take ‘many weeks’.
Whitehall sources last night said Mr Skripal was poisoned when he touched the door handle of his car, which had been smeared with a deadly nerve agent.
Mr Basu, who took over Britain’s top counter-terrorism job this week, confirmed the red BMW was at the centre of the investigation. He said: ‘Hundreds of officers, including … forensic experts, intelligence analysts and the military, are combing the area for evidence to establish who is responsible for this reckless and despicable act.
‘We are appealing for anyone who saw the Skripals or their car, a red BMW with the registration plate HD09 WAO, between approximately 1pm and 1.45pm on Sunday, March 4, in the Salisbury area to contact police.’
Yesterday, chemical weapons experts were continuing to examine the car. A large inflatable tent was placed over it while officers worked nearby. A van which was used to tow it away had also been seized and was being examined.
investigators cordoned off and placed a tent over a ticket machine at the Sainsbury’s car park in The Maltings, close to where Mr Skripal, 66, left the car on March 4.
it is one of several locations in the city centre cordoned off, including The Mill pub and a Zizzi restaurant, which the ex-spy and his daughter visited and where traces of nerve agent were found.
Miss Skripal, 33, had arrived at Heathrow on a flight from russia at approximately 2.40pm on Saturday, March 3, police said. Taxi driver garry Collins, who often drove Mr Skripal after he moved to Wiltshire in 2011, said the russian called him on Friday asking him to collect his daughter because he was trapped by the snow.
it raises the possibility Mr Skripal did not use his car for days before March 4 due to the weather – which may make it more difficult for police to establish whether and when it was contaminated.
Detectives said the pair arrived in the city at about 1.40pm but officers want CCTV from 1pm. Mr Skripal’s home is a ten-minute drive from where he parked, raising questions about what they were doing in the meantime.
experts said one theory is that the nerve agent could have been put in the car’s ventilation system or dusted on the inside. Only a tiny amount would be needed.
Philip ingram, a former intelligence and security officer who has studied chemical warfare, said: ‘Using the car would explain why both Mr Skripal and his daughter got a dose… it is easy to break into a car and put some of the substance in there… This nerve agent Novichok would have taken hours at most to work.’
Jerry Smith, a former chemical weapons inspector for the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said the Novichok agent was ‘very persistent’ and could linger for a ‘reasonable length of time’ as a ‘dusty agent’.
Public Health england was criticised for taking six days to tell locals to wash clothes and belongings. A source close to Wiltshire Council said: ‘People are being kept in the dark as to long-term effects of whatever they might have come into contact with.’
residents also expressed concern about the increasing number of cordons springing up at sites previously open to the public.
Mr Basu said this was ‘nothing to be alarmed about’. He added that 38 people had been ‘seen’ by medical staff in relation to the attack. But only the Skripals and Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, among the first on the scene, were in hospital. A fourth person was being monitored at home but has shown no signs of poisoning.
Meanwhile, friends of Miss Skripal in russia last night accused the British government of a coverup. Yulia Ni told the Daily Telegraph: ‘i need some undeniable proof she is actually alive, because we have suspicions that the truth about Yulia’s and her father’s conditions are being held from us.’
‘Reckless and despicable act’