Dawn Sturgess died after unknowingly spraying Novichok on to her own skin from a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018. An inquiry into her death is currently being heard
The mum of a woman who was killed by a deadly Russian nerve agent gave an emotional statement at the inquiry into her death.
Mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess died after unknowingly spraying Novichok on to her own skin from a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018, the inquiry has heard. Yesterday Andrew O’Connor KC, counsel to the Dawn Sturgess inquiry, told the hearing: “It’s no exaggeration to say the circumstances of Dawn Sturgess’s death were extraordinary, they were indeed unique.” He went on to say that she was an innocent victim.
The inquiry has heard the Novichok had already been sprayed on the front door handle at the home of former spy Sergei Skripal, where he lived with his daughter Yulia, with the pair falling ill but ultimately surviving the assassination attempt. Today, Caroline Sturgess, 44-year-old Dawn’s mum spoke about her daughter.
She said: “Dawn was the eldest of our four girls; a mother of three children herself. Now she would have been a grandmother but she will never have the absolute joy of meeting her first grandchild and doesn’t get to watch her grow. She was an intelligent, funny, extremely selfless and very kind person. She always cared deeply for her family and many friends that surrounded her. She did not judge a single person and strived to make other happy even when she didn’t feel like smiling herself.
“Dawn was raised in a normal, loving, caring family in a village where most knew each other, and where the majority of our family still live today. Her circumstances escalated to her living in John Baker House for the last two years of her life. Dawn grasped this opportunity to address her issues, she was excited that it would be a new starting block for a fresh chapter. She remained in constant contact and was totally supported by us all.
“Dawn’s main priority continued to be the welfare of her children. Her youngest, – still in primary school – was always very excited to see her mum; I tried to take her in to see her as much as possible. They loved spending quality time together. Dawn always greeted her in the same manner – on her knees so she could run into her arms.”
“The narrative that had been set for Dawn on social media and in the press was extremely distressing to everyone who personally knew her. She was not a ‘known drug user’, as had initially been reported and then repeated. She was a very loved mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, auntie, niece, cousin and friend.
Yesterday the inquiry was told the nerve agent, which was hidden inside a perfume bottle, and contained “enough poison to kill thousands of people”. Dawn’s mother told the court her family were glad that she was the only one to have lost he life – and they felt Dawn herself would have agreed.
Caroline told the hearing: “I last spoke to my daughter on the evening before the incident. We spoke at length about the excitement she felt at the prospect of finally leaving the hostel and living independently once more. The final part of our conversation that night was discussing taking Dawn’s daughter to her the following day to spend time together.
“She was to ring me in the morning with a confirmed time for me to drop her off. It was pure chance that Dawn had sprayed herself with the Novichok before her daughter arrived. Dawn’s death was a tragedy to us all, but the fact that her daughter was not killed as well is a solace that we often revisit.
“We understand that the perfume bottle contained enough Novichok to kill thousands of people. Again, although we are devastated by her death, our family find comfort that Dawn was the only life lost that day when the potential harm was much, much more. We know she would agree.
“The next section is a quote from Dawn’s daughter: Me and my mum had a bond that I will never forget. The day I heard she had fallen really ill was heartbreaking to hear. In my mind I thought she would push through it because there was nothing my mum couldn’t handle.
“The day I heard everyone go to say their goodbyes when she was in intensive care was so upsetting. Shortly after she passed away. One thing I will never forget is due to my age I never saw her or got to say goodbye.”
Yesterday, Sergei Skripal blame Vladimir Putin for the nerve agent attack, in a statement to the hearing. He said: “I believe Putin makes all important decisions himself. I therefore think he must have at least given permission for the attack on Yulia and me. Any GRU commander taking a decision like this without Putin’s permission would have been severely punished.
“That is what I meant when I said ‘special services in Russia will do nothing again without permission Putin’ that he ordered the attack is my private opinion, based on my years of experience and my analysis of the continuous degradation of Russia. I do not have concrete evidence to support this.”
The former spy added: “When I was still working in GRU special services in Russia I had access to secret information. I was aware of allegations that Putin had been involved in illegal activity to do with the disposal of rare metals. I have always thought poison is a KGB technique because it is not honourable.
“GRU relations with the KGB and later the FSB were generally bad while I was working in the GRU and we did not cooperate so I have not myself seen evidence of the KGB using poison. I have read that Putin is personal very interested in poison and likes reading books about it. I believe I read this somewhere online although I cannot now remember where. I am aware of the poisoning of Litvinenko in 2006.
“I think Yulia was right in principle when she said ‘If [the Russian government] want to kill you they will find a way anywhere’. Nobody can be protected 100% from an assassin, especially one who plans carefully or is prepared to die.”
