Probe into Russian link to Scot’s death
DETECTIVES investigating the attempted assassination of a former Russian spy in Salisbury have uncovered new evidence linking the Kremlin to at least two other suspected murders on UK soil, including the death of a Scots businessman.
In the wake of the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, detectives now say others may also have been targeted by Russian killers.
They are looking into the deaths of Dundeeborn Scot Young, who reportedly had business dealings in Russia and was found impaled on railings below his London flat four years ago.
And Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism group SO15 are also reported to be investigating the death of Alexander Perepilichnyy, a business man from Russia who collapsed and died in Surrey after blowing the whistle on Kremlin fraud.
It is understood SO15 has gathered evidence that Russian military intelligence agents GRU travelled in and out of Britain around the time of the deaths.
Britain has accused Russia of carrying out the poisoning of the Skripals in March, which the pair survived.
But two British nationals, Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, were admitted to Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire after being poisoned by the same Novichok nerve agent.
Ms Sturgess, 44, died on July 8, while Mr Rowley, 45, regained consciousness two days later.
It emerged he had found a sealed box containing a miniature bottle of what he thought was perfume on the ground in the town of Amesbury, gifting it to his girlfriend who sprayed it on herself.
He is also believed to have come into contact with the substance, described as “oily”, which was in fact the Novichok agent.
He has now spoken of his fears the poison will eventually kill him and believes he could be dead within a decade.
Mr Rowley, who was in hospital being treated for meningitis, said: “I may be out of hospital but I don’t feel safe. I’m terrified about the future.
“Doctors simply don’t know what the longterm effects could be. The worst thing has been the fear over my sight. I’m struggling to see properly and to walk.”
“I’m one of only a handful in the world to have survived Novichok, so it’s untrod territory. I feel like a guinea pig. I don’t know what’s going to happen from one day to the next.”
Mr Rowley said he fears for his own life and said if the authorities offered him assistance he would take it.
He said he had not been given any support and felt let down by what had happened.
Mr Rowley told a newspaper he has felt suicidal and said he had been given no support.
He said: “The system is flawed. I need counselling. If the authorities offered me help I would take it. I feel let down.”
Mr Rowley added: “I don’t think I’ll be alive in 10 years. It has been horrendous.”
Police have said they do not believe that Rowley or his partner were deliberately targeted, rather that they were affected because of the “recklessness in which such a toxic nerve agent was disposed of”.