Public inquiry into death of Dawn Sturgess will be held

A public inquiry is to be launched into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who was killed in the 2018 Wiltshire novichok poisonings.

The inquiry will be able to consider sensitive information in secret and allow the judge leading it to examine the role played by the Russian state. In June 2018, Sturgess, 44, and her partner, Charlie Rowley, were poisoned after he found a fake perfume bottle containing novichok.

Rowley recovered but Sturgess died. Sturgess’s family had pushed for her inquest to be converted into a public inquiry, believing it would be the best way to get to the truth of what happened.