The Daily Telegraph

Salisbury Novichok death inquest ‘too sensitive’ for public

- By Izzy Lyons CRIME CORRESPOND­ENT

THE inquest into the Salisbury Novichok attack must be made into an inquiry as the material is “too sensitive” to be heard in public, a coroner has said.

Coroner Baroness Heather Hallett has requested that the investigat­ion into the death of Dawn Sturgess, the only victim of the Russian state sponsored attack, should be made a full public inquiry.

Announcing her decision, the coroner said: “As set out in my letter to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, I have firmly concluded that I cannot conduct a full, fair and effective inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess if these proceeding­s continue as an inquest. I have seen substantia­l material that is far too sensitive to be made public, even in gisted form.

“I have no option, therefore, but to request the Secretary of State convert this inquest into an inquiry and I invite her to consider my request as a matter of urgency.”

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