Nerve agent ‘planted in daughter’s suitcase’
Kremlin-backed hit squad did not come to Britain, intelligence agencies now believe
THE nerve agent that poisoned the Russian spy Sergei Skripal was planted in his daughter’s suitcase before she left Moscow, intelligence agencies now believe.
Senior sources have told The Daily Telegraph that they are convinced the Novichok nerve agent was hidden in the luggage of Yulia Skripal, the double agent’s 33-year-old daughter.
They are working on the theory that an item of clothing, cosmetics or a gift was impregnated with the toxin, then opened in his house in Salisbury.
Col Skripal was convicted of spying for Britain in 2006 but came to the UK in 2010 as part of a spy swap.
Counter-terror police and MI5, hunting the would-be assassins, no longer think the Kremlin-backed hit squad ever entered the UK, making it much harder for authorities to pinpoint exactly who carried out the attempted murder of Col Skripal, 66, and his daughter. They remain in intensive care, fighting for their lives.
At a public meeting last night Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, of Wiltshire Police, revealed 131 people may have come into contact with the deadly nerve agent, and that they are being monitored by health authorities over the phone on a daily basis.
He also said 46 people had attended hospital with concerns that they had been affected since the incident, and that cordons around areas where traces of the nerve agent have been found – or could yet be found – may remain in place for months.
Police sources have told The Telegraph that 24 cordons have now been erected in and around Salisbury. The latest cordon went up surrounding the home of Det Sgt Nick Bailey, who is seriously ill in hospital.
In a tour of Salisbury yesterday, Theresa May launched a withering attack on Vladimir Putin’s regime as Moscow prepared to expel British diplomats in retaliation for the sending home of 23 Russian suspected spies.
The Prime Minister said yesterday: “We do hold Russia culpable for this brazen, brazen act and despicable act, which has taken place on the streets of what is such a remarkable city.”
International allies rallied around Mrs May yesterday, directly blaming Russia for the attack. In a joint statement Britain, America, France and Germany said there was “no plausible alternative explanation” for the nerve agent attack other than Russian involvement.
President Donald Trump said: “It certainly looks like the Russians were behind it,” while the US administration announced fresh sanctions against the Putin regime for election meddling and cyber attacks, separate to the Skripal assassination attempt.
The political fallout from the attack continued to reverberate, with Det Sgt Bailey’s family criticising Jeremy Cor- byn for failing to condemn the Kremlin the previous day. William Pomeroy, the detective’s father-in-law and a lifelong Labour voter, said: “I’m very disappointed in Mr Corbyn. He’s said almost nothing about this and come across as very weak on it. He seems to have been a bit mealy mouthed about Russia’s involvement. It’s disappointing because he should be representing ordinary people like me.” Det Sgt Bailey,
a 38-year-old father of two, was poisoned at Col Skripal’s home rather than at the bench in the city centre where the couple later collapsed, it is understood. That bolsters the belief that the nerve agent was brought into the home inadvertently by Miss Skripal. She arrived in the UK on Saturday March 3 on a flight from Moscow that landed, according to police, at 2.40pm.
One source said it was straightforward for the assassins to break into Miss Skripal’s apartment in Moscow and plant the nerve agent in her luggage. Security sources have told The Telegraph that the timings are “hugely significant”. The next day, the pair drove into Salisbury city centre, parking in Sainsbury’s car park at 1.40pm before going to the Bishops Mill pub and on to Zizzi restaurant before collapsing on a bench. Traces of Novichok have been found on Col Skripal’s car and in the restaurant and pub.
Experts said it was telling that counter-terror police had issued no images of possible suspects, given the large number of CCTV cameras in and around Salisbury city centre.
The cordon around Det Sgt Bailey’s family home in the village of Alderholt in Dorset, 14 miles from Salisbury, included the entire cul-de-sac and surrounding streets. Both family cars were removed. Another car was removed from outside a house in married quarters at Larkhill garrison, home of the Royal Artillery, 13 miles north of Salisbury.
Troops, trained in chemical warfare, are being deployed to decontaminate all areas that may have come into contact with the “persistent” deadly nerve agent. One source said: “You would basically need to decontaminate the whole of Salisbury before you could declare it safe to the public.” Public Health England insists the risks are low.