An inquiry into the tragic death of British woman Dawn Sturgess with a deadly nerve agent will begin this week.
The 2018 Salisbury poisonings made headlines around the world after multiple people were poisoned with a Russian nerve agent.
One woman, 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess, died after being exposed to Novichok, which was left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018.
It followed the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and then police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in nearby Salisbury in March that year.
They were poisoned when members of a Russian military intelligence squad are believed to have smeared the nerve agent on Mr Skripal’s door handle.
All three survived, as did Ms Sturgess’s boyfriend Charlie Rowley, who had unwittingly given her the bottle containing the killer nerve agent.
Who was Dawn Sturgess?
Dawn was a mother of three children who tragically died after spraying herself with a perfume bottle which had a ‘significant amount’ of Novichok on it.
She had been given the perfume by her partner Charlie Rowley, who had found the bottle in a charity collection bin.
After spraying herself, she collapsed inside of Rowley’s home. He too was hospitalised.
Although Sergei and Yulia Skripal survived the poisoning, Dawn sadly died and her partner Charlie was critically ill for weeks.
Has anyone been arrested?
An international arrest warrant was issued for three Russian men thought to be involved in the attacks on British soil, but as the Russian constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens it is unlikely they will ever stand trial.
Two suspects gave an interview with Russian state media in which they said they were only in the UK, briefly, to visit Salisbury Cathedral.
It was previously revealed that the Skripals will not give evidence at the inquiry over fears for their safety.
It comes as Wiltshire Police said people in Salisbury city centre can expect to see an increased police presence for the duration of the hearing.
They added that there is ‘no current intelligence to suggest there is any risk to the wider public’.
In June, a preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice heard that the Sturgess family wanted the Skripals to give oral evidence to address ‘unanswered questions’.
They were, however, excused from doing so in a subsequent ruling, with the relevant judgment citing an ‘overwhelming risk’ of another physical attack on their lives.
The then-Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered that the inquest into Ms Sturgess’s death be converted into a public inquiry in 2021.
The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Lord Hughes of Ombersley, is due to begin at The Guildhall in Salisbury on Monday.
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