Novichok mistaken for perfume by victim

Novichok victim Charlie Rowley has said the deadly nerve agent took just 15 minutes to poison his partner after she sprayed the “oily” substance on to her wrists believing it was perfume.

Mr Rowley, 45, believes he may have had the bottle in his home for a couple of days before giving it to 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess as a present.

He said the glass bottle and plastic dispenser were in a cardboard box with plastic moulding, and that Ms Sturgess had recognised the brand.

She died on July 8 after the pair fell ill on June 30 having been exposed to novichok contained in a bottle later found in Mr Rowley’s home in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

He told ITV News: “I do have a memory of her spraying it on her wrists and rubbing them together.

“I guess that’s how she applied it and became ill. I guess how I got in contact with it is when I put the spray part to the bottle... I ended tipping some on my hands, but I washed it off under the tap.

“It had an oily substance and I smelled it and it didn’t smell of perfume. It felt oily. I washed it off and I didn’t think anything of it. It all happened so quick.

“Within 15 minutes Dawn said she had a headache. She asked me if I had any headache tablets. In that time she said she felt peculiar and needed to lie down in the bath. I went into the bathroom and found her in the bath, fully clothed, in a very ill state.”

Mr Rowley said he could not remember where he found the perfume box but believed it “looked expensive”.

“Unfortunately it turned out to be... to be a bad find,” he said.

Mr Rowley also said he still feels to blame for what happened to her but criticised the “irresponsible people” who left the poison for anybody to pick up.

“It was just so unfortunate. I’m very angry at the whole incident,” he added.

Dawn Sturgess fell ill soon after spraying the oily liquid.