Preliminary inquiry hearing into Novichok death of Dawn Sturgess held in London

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - A preliminary inquiry hearing was held Friday in London into the death of Dawn Sturgess following exposure to the Novichok nerve agent in 2018.

Sturgess family lawyer, Michael Mansfield, said there are some "pretty astonishing observations" during the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The inquiry was announced by then-Home Secretary Priti Patel on Nov. 18, 2021, and is chaired by Lord Hughes of Ombersley.

It is scheduled to begin in October.

Sturgess died in hospital on July 8, 2018. in Salisbury after she was exposed to Novichok, which had been stored in a discarded perfume bottle found by her husband and given to her as a gift.

It followed the attempted murders of former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter, Yulia, and ex-police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in Salisbury in March of that year.

Novichok is developed at a state chemical research institute in Russia.

Moscow has it was involved in the attack.