Dawn Sturgess Inquiry

The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, chaired by Lord Hughes of Ombersley, was established to investigate the death of Dawn Sturgess, who died on 8 July 2018 after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok. The Report concludes that her death was collateral damage resulting from a Russian state assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury four months earlier.

Circumstances of Death On 30 June 2018, Sturgess collapsed in Amesbury after applying liquid from a discarded bottle to her wrists, believing it to be Nina Ricci perfume. The bottle, found by her partner Charlie Rowley, contained high-purity Novichok. The Inquiry determined that Russian GRU agents (using the aliases Petrov and Boshirov) used the poison to attack Skripal on 4 March 2018 and recklessly discarded the container in a public place before fleeing the UK. Lord Hughes concluded the operation was authorized at the highest level, including by President Vladimir Putin.

Emergency Response and Prevention Despite prompt attendance, Sturgess’s condition was deemed "unsurvivable" before paramedics arrived due to a catastrophic brain injury caused by cardiac arrest. While police initially misidentified the incident as a drug overdose—ignoring paramedic concerns about nerve agent symptoms—the Inquiry found this error did not affect the outcome.

The Inquiry considered whether earlier public health warnings could have prevented the death. Lord Hughes concluded that the decision not to issue "don't pick up the unknown" advice between March and June 2018 was reasonable to avoid panic, though the failure to record this decision was an error.

Outcome The Inquiry attributes absolute responsibility for Sturgess’s death to the Russian state and its operatives. No formal recommendations were made for future changes, as the report notes that specific deficiencies identified regarding police training on symptom confusion and risk assessments for exchanged prisoners had already been rectified.