Novichok-attack policeman back at work after 10 months

THE police officer who was left critically ill following the Salisbury nerve agent attack has returned to work.

Det Sgt Nick Bailey returned to active duty with the Wiltshire force 10 months after coming into contact with Novichok while investigating the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, the former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia.

The married father of two was one of the first officers to attend Mr Skripal’s home after he was taken ill in the centre of Salisbury last March.

After getting the nerve agent on his hands Det Sgt Bailey returned home, potentially contaminating everything inside. He was later rushed to hospital after becoming ill, but was discharged around three weeks later. Since then he has been making a slow recovery from the physical and mental effects of the experience and was recently declared fit enough to return to work.

Angus Macpherson, the Wiltshire police and crime commissioner, said: “He’s doing very well and we look forward to working with him. He’s making a good recovery – but I suspect the mental recovery will be longer, as it would for any of us who were exposed to something as horrific as that. He will be given all the support he needs.”

Despite his recovery, Mr Bailey lost his home and all his possessions because of fears of contamination. He is believed to have come into contact with Novichok when he touched the Skripal’s door handle, which had been contaminated by two Russian agents.

While the Skripals and Mr Bailey survived the attack, Dawn Sturgess, a Salisbury resident, died when she was given a discarded perfume bottle which contained Novichok.

In September, prosecutors issued arrest warrants for Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who the Met named as the two main suspects in the poisoning. They were later revealed to be suspected GRU agents, Alexander Mishkin and Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga.