Salisbury Novichok Poisonings: The Tragic Death of Dawn Sturgess and the Final Inquiry Report

The long-awaited final report of the public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess – the only person to be killed by Novichok during the 2018 Salisbury poisonings – is due to be published on Thursday.

After six weeks of open hearings in late 2024 that explored the connection between her death and the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, the inquiry moved into closed sessions in January 2025 to examine highly sensitive intelligence from Britain’s security services.

Who was Dawn Sturgess?

Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three, died on 8 July 2018 in Salisbury District Hospital after being exposed to the military-grade nerve agent Novichok.

On 30 June 2018, while at her partner Charlie Rowley’s home in Amesbury (approximately eleven kilometres from Salisbury), she sprayed herself with what she believed was perfume from a bottle Mr Rowley had found days earlier in a charity bin. Unbeknown to them, the bottle contained a lethal quantity of Novichok – enough, experts later said, to kill thousands of people.

Ms Sturgess collapsed almost immediately. Mr Rowley also fell seriously ill after handling the bottle but survived and was discharged from hospital on 20 July 2018.

What is Novichok?

Novichok (“newcomer” in Russian) is a series of extremely potent nerve agents developed in secret by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. These chemicals disrupt the nervous system, shutting down vital bodily functions, and can be fatal in minute doses. They are typically odourless liquids that can be absorbed through the skin and must be handled in sealed containers with full protective gear.

The wider context: the Skripal attack

The same Novichok that killed Dawn Sturgess had been used four months earlier in the attempted murder of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Sergei Skripal, recruited by MI6 while serving in Russian military intelligence, had been convicted of treason in Russia in 2006. He was released in a spy swap in 2010 and settled in Salisbury. Yulia flew in from Moscow on 3 March 2018 to visit him.

On 4 March, the pair were found unconscious on a bench in the centre of Salisbury after eating lunch together. Scientists at the nearby Porton Down laboratory later confirmed they had been poisoned with Novichok that had been applied to the front-door handle of Mr Skripal’s house.

Both Sergei and Yulia Skripal survived: Yulia was discharged on 9 April 2018 and her father on 18 May 2018. They have since lived at a secret location under UK protection.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, one of the first officers to enter the Skripal home, spent almost three weeks in hospital after being contaminated. A young boy to whom Mr Skripal had given bread to feed ducks that day also became unwell.

The Sturgess inquiry has established that the perfume bottle discarded after the Skripal attack was later picked up by Charlie Rowley, unknowingly bringing the world’s deadliest nerve agent into an ordinary British household with tragic consequences.

The forthcoming report is expected to address how the Novichok came to be abandoned, the adequacy of the public-health response, and whether opportunities were missed that could have prevented Dawn Sturgess’s death.