Same nerve agent used in Amesbury as Skripal case

Independent investigators have confirmed the toxic chemical that killed Dawn Sturgess in Amesbury was the same nerve agent as that which poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal three months earlier.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said its team had confirmed the findings of the UK, which concluded in July the substance used was Novichok.

Ms Sturgess and her partner Charlie Rowley fell ill at his home in Amesbury, near Salisbury, on 30 June.

Ms Sturgess – a motherof-three – died in hospital eight days later having never regained consciousness.

It is believed they were exposed to a military grade nerve agent from a perfume bottle discarded by those responsible for the attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury in March.