Putin ‘morally responsible’ for ‘unsurvivable’ Novichok poisoning of Dawn Sturgess, inquiry finds

Harriet Robinson
Live Page Reporter

Image source, Handout

Dawn Sturgess fell ill on 30 June 2018, Lord Hughes says in his statement.

Earlier in the day her partner, Charlie Rowley, had given her a small bottle of what he thought was Nina Ricci perfume, but it contained Novichok.

“Dawn became seriously ill very quickly,” he says.

Mr Rowley called an ambulance but by the time paramedics arrived Ms Sturgess’ heart had stopped beating “for some time”, Lord Hughes continues.

She had sustained an “unsurvivable brain injury” and never regained consciousness, he says. Ms Sturgess died on 8 July in Salisbury District Hospital.

The medical cause of her death was hypoxic ischaemic brain injury and intracranial brain haemorrhage, attributable to Novichok poisoning.

Lord Hughes adds: “The immediate circumstances of her death are clear but also quite extraordinary.”