POISON ‘WAS SMEARED ON HANDLE OF VICTIM’S CAR DOOR’
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 in the UK 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 3Series before they arrived at a supermarket 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.
Yesterday, Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said they remained in a critical condition in hospital, nine days after they were found slumped on a bench. He said officers were gathering evidence to identify those responsible for the ‘attempted murders’. The senior officer said investigators’ ‘prime focus’ was how the nerve agent was administered – but warned that the inquiry will take ‘many weeks’.
UK government sources last night said Mr Skripal was poisoned when he touched the door handle of his car, which had been smeared with a nerve agent.
Mr Basu 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.’
Yesterday, chemical weapons experts were continuing to examine the car. A large tent was placed over it while officers worked nearby. A van used to tow it away had also been seized.
Investigators cordoned off and placed a tent over a ticket machine close to where Mr Skripal, 66, left the car on March 4.
It is one of several locations in the city centre cordoned off.
Ms Skripal, 33, had arrived at Heathrow on a flight from Russia at 2.40pm on Saturday, March 3, police said. Taxi driver Garry Collins, who often drove Mr Skripal, 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. 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.
Experts said one theory is that the nerve agent could have been put in the car’s ventilation system or dusted on the inside.
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 would have taken hours at most to work.’