Detectives hope poisoning victim can help in search for nerve agent

Investigators hunting a mystery vessel containing a deadly nerve agent are hoping to glean vital information from poisoning victim Charlie Rowley.

The 45-year-old may be the only person who can help detectives narrow down their search for “a needle in a haystack”.

Mr Rowley was left seriously ill and his partner, Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after they collapsed in Amesbury, Wiltshire, on 30 June, having been exposed to Novichok.

It is believed that the couple handled a vessel containing the chemical weapon, but police have admitted they have “no idea” what it might look like.

Advice from Public Health England is that the overall risk is low, but Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies has warned everyone in the area not to pickup“any foreign object which could contain liquid or gel, in the interests of their own safety”.

Mr Rowley re gained consciousness on Tuesday, and yesterday Scotland Yard confirmed that officers had been able to speak to him.

The Metropolitan Police said :“Officers from the investigation team have spoken briefly to Charlie and will be looking to further speak with him in the coming days as they continue to try and establish how he and Dawn came to be contaminated with the nerve agent.

“Any contact officers have with Charlie will be done in close consultation with the hospital and his doctors.”

Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at Salisbury District Hospital, said that, while Mr Rowley is no longer in a critical condition, he remains seriously ill.

She said: “Charlie still has some way to go to recover, but the progress we’ve seen so far gives us cause for optimism.”

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said it is likely the latest poisoning is linked to the attempt- ed murders of former Russian spy Sergei Skripa land his daughter Yuliain Salisbury in March with the same substance.

Speaking at a packed pub - lic meeting in Amesbury on Tuesday night, Mr Basu conceded that the authorities had not been looking for anything containing Novichok until the latest incident.

Novichok can remain active for 50 years if left undisturbed in a sealed container.

Mr Basu, who leads the UK’S counter-terrorism policing, admitted that investigators have “no idea” what the container looks like.

One member of the public suggested police are “looking for a needle in a haystack”.

“Yes, that’s why we need to be intelligence-led, which is why we need witnesses that tell us where it might be,” Mr Basu replied.

“The brutal fact is we don’t know where they found it.”

“We need witnesses that tell us where it might be. The brutal fact is we don’t know where they found it” NEIL BASU Met Assistant Commissioner