Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IT’S PASTA JOKE
Restaurant may sue if novichok scare proves to be hoax
THE restaurant caught up in the latest novichok scare is considering suing the couple involved if it turns out to have been a hoax.
The Salisbury branch of Italian chain Prezzo was locked down on Sunday over fears that Anna Shapiro, 30, and husband Alex King, 42, had been exposed to the nerve agent.
It suffered lost earnings and costs from wasted food, plus damage to its reputation.
Wiltshire Police have said neither Ms Shapiro nor Mr King were exposed to a nerve agent and the case was not being treated as suspicious. Officers added that the possibility of a hoax was one line of inquiry.
The restaurant has now reopened and a source at Prezzo said discussions had taken place about potential legal action in the event of the incident being proved a hoax.
Ms Shapiro, an Israeli citizen of Russian heritage, reportedly told friends she was a “honeytrap” agent for Mossad and claims the Kremlin wants her dead.
She yesterday denied that she had been involved in a hoax. A statement from her solicitors read: “There has been some media speculation that our client may have participated in an elaborate hoax as regards her fear of her husband’s poisoning at Prezzo.
“She has asked [us] to emphasise that she was not involved in any hoax and that her fears were genuine, both as to the poisoning and her suspicion of foul play. As the incident is now being investigated, it is not appropriate to comment further at this stage.” Meanwhile, it was claimed novichok attack suspects Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov had been arrested in Holland earlier this year and released without charge. It was also claimed that Petrov visited the UK a year before their attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March, allegedly arriving here on February 28, 2017 and leaving four days later.
Drama Killing Eve, on BBC1 tonight at 9.25pm, has chilling echoes of the attempted novichok hit on the Skripals as a Russian agent uses a perfume bottle to spray nerve agent on her victim.