The perfume bottle carrying a Russian nerve agent that fatally poisoned a British woman in Salisbury contained ‘enough poison to kill thousands of people’.
An inquiry into Dawn Sturgess’ death heard how she had ‘unwittingly’ applied the perfume, which contained Novichok, to her own skin.
The 2018 Salisbury poisonings made headlines around the world after multiple people were poisoned with Novichok.
During remarks today to the inquiry, Andrew O’Connor KC said: ‘A particularly shocking feature of Dawn’s death is that she unwittingly applied the poison to her own skin.
‘She was entirely unaware of the mortal danger she faced, because the highly toxic liquid had been concealed – carefully and deliberately concealed – inside a perfume bottle.
‘Moreover, the evidence will suggest that this bottle – which we shall hear contained enough poison to kill thousands of people – must earlier have been left somewhere in public place creating the obvious risk that someone would find it and take it home.
‘You may conclude, sir, that those who discarded the bottle in this way acted with a grotesque disregard for human life.’
Former spy Sergei Skripal believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible for poisoning him with Novichok, the inquiry heard.
The family of Dawn also told the inquiry they wanted Vladimir Putin to give evidence to the inquiry.
Adam Straw KC told the enquiry: ‘He should look Dawn’s family in the eyes and answer the evidence against him.’
The inquiry’s chairman Lord Hughes of Ombersley responded saying it was ‘an intriguing suggestion’, adding: ‘have I any power whatsoever to enforce it?’
Mr Straw replied ‘no I’m afraid not’.
Dawn’s ordeal 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 Dawn the bottle containing the killer nerve agent.
What is Novichok?
Novichok, known as ‘newcomer’, is a nerve agent with over 100 formulations that was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and ’80s.
Nerve agents do damage by disrupting electrical signals from the brain to muscles and the rest of the nervous system.
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They block the release of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, meaning the gaps between nerve cells become flooded with acetylcholine, sparking continuous contraction of the muscles.
Exposure to the nerve agent can cause muscle spasms, secretion of fluid into the lungs, organ failure, convulsions and cardiac arrest.
The nerve agent comes in the form of an ultra-fine, but potent powder, which can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed through skin.
It can be placed in food, drink, objects, or even in the air.
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