Novichok inquest ‘could become public inquiry’ if national security relevant

THE inquest into the novichok poisonings in Wiltshire could become a public inquiry if issues of national security become relevant, a coroner has said.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died and her partner, Charlie Rowley, fell ill months after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were exposed to the nerve agent in Salisbury.

They collapsed in June 2018 after encountering a perfume bottle believed to have been used in the poisoning of the Skripals and then discarded. Mr Rowley recovered but Ms Sturgess died on July 8.

Baroness Hallett, a retired Court of Appeal judge, was appointed to hear the inquest after High Court judges ordered the Wiltshire coroner to widen the scope of the inquiry.

In a written ruling following a pre-inquest review last month, Lady Hallett said some documents disclosed “in an exceptional case such as this will inevitably be of a highly sensitive nature”.

The Home Secretary is likely to claim public interest immunity so the documents would be excluded from the inquest, Lady Hallett said.

She had previously said the hearing would examine whether Russia was responsible for the chemical attack, and where the substance used to poison Ms Sturgess came from.

Some evidence could be redacted and “material considered central to the investigation may have to be excluded from consideration”, Lady Hallett said.

“I think it is highly likely that I too will reach the stage when I must invite the establishment of a public inquiry but as yet I have a limited knowledge of the nature and extent of the material,” she said.

“I shall therefore reserve my decision until the inquest legal team and I have a better understanding of the material to be disclosed.

“I am determined that this investigation should not be hampered bydelay and unnecessary additional cost.”

Lawyers representing Ms Sturgess’s family and Mr Rowley wanted the inquest to be held under terms of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This would mean the hearing was widened to consider “how and in what circumstances” Ms Sturgess died, but Lady Hallett said the inquest would focus on determining “who, when, where and how” her death occurred.