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The vial containing the nerve agent that killed a British woman contained enough poison to kill thousands

VaselineOctober 14, 2024

0 2 minutes read

The vial containing the nerve agent that killed a British woman contained enough poison to kill thousands

Danica Kirka
| Associated press

London — The lead lawyer at a public inquiry into the 2018 death of a British woman poisoned by a Soviet-developed nerve agent said Monday that there was enough poison in the vial she unknowingly opened to kill thousands of people.

Dawn Sturgess and her partner collapsed after coming into contact with a discarded perfume bottle containing the nerve agent Novichok in Amesbury, south-west England. She had squirted the contents of the bottle onto her wrist and died days later. Her partner survived.

“The evidence will suggest that this bottle – which we will hear contained enough poison to kill thousands of people – must have previously been left somewhere in a public place, creating a clear risk that someone would find it and take it home ” says lead attorney Andrew. said O’Connor.

Their unmasking came four months after a former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter fell ill with Novichok during an attack in the nearby city of Salisbury.

Britain has blamed Russian intelligence, but Moscow has denied any role. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Skripal, a double agent for the United Kingdom during his spying days, a “bastard” who was of no interest to the Kremlin because he was traded in a 2010 spy swap.

The Skripals do not want to testify during the investigation for fear for their safety.

But in testimony to the inquiry, Skripal said the attack was a shock because it was “not honorable” to kill exchanged people.

“I had received a presidential pardon and was a free man with no convictions under Russian law. I never imagined that the Russian regime would try to kill me in Britain,” Skripal said in a statement read by O’Connor. “They could have easily killed me if they wanted to when I was in prison.”

He said he believed Putin “must have at least authorized the attack.”

“I believe that Putin makes all important decisions himself,” he said.

Lawyer Michael Mansfield, speaking on behalf of Sturgess’ family and partner, said the evidence suggested a risk to Skripal was foreseeable. He said central questions for the investigation are whether he and British authorities recognized he posed a threat to the community.

“If the attack could and should have been prevented by the British authorities, Dawn’s family and partner have a right to know – and so does the wider public; Did we fail to prevent a chemical weapons attack on British soil?” he told the inquiry. “Were countless members of the public in danger, potentially causing hundreds or even thousands of deaths?”

Heather Hallett, the coroner who led the inquest into Sturgess’ death in 2018, said a public inquiry was needed to fully investigate how the woman died. Unlike inquests, which are routinely held in cases where the cause of death is unknown or when someone dies violently, public inquests are allowed to consider sensitive intelligence material.

VaselineOctober 14, 2024

0 2 minutes read

Vaseline

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