Scotland Yard opens murder inquiry over nerve agent killing

A murder investigation was launched today following the death of a British woman after being exposed to a nerve agent close to a city where a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with the same deadly chemical four months ago.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died at Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire yesterday after falling ill on June 30.

Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, who also fell ill after being exposed to the nerve agent, remains in a critical condition in hospital.

Scotland Yard said they have launched a murder investigation - the second major probe involving the military-grade nerve agent this year, following the case of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in March.

Tests have revealed that the Amesbury couple were exposed to Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet military during the Cold War in what is the first known offensive use of such a chemical weapon on European soil since World War II.

Security services believe the couple were inadvertently exposed to the same nerve agent used to attack Skripal and his daughter four months ago.

"This is shocking and tragic news. Dawn leaves behind her family, including three children, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this extremely difficult time," assistant commissioner Neil Basu, head of UK counter-terrorism policing, said,
Professor Paul Cosford said: "As a precaution we still advise the public not to pick up any strange items such as needles, syringes or unusual containers."