Salisbury ex-spy’s red BMW now at centre of nerve agent probe as police appeal for people who saw poisoned pair in car
POISONED ex-spy Sergei Skripal's red BMW is at the centre of a probe into how he and his daughter were poisoned by an unknown nerve agent.
With Skripal and his daughter Yulia still in critical condition, it is alleged the Russian double agent was poisoned after touching the door handle which was smeared in the toxic substance.
Police are appealing for witnesses who saw them sitting in the BMW 3-Series before they succumbed to the effects of an attack in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Counter-terrorism cops are trying to piece together a "missing 40 minutes" at a Sainsbury's car park at around 1.40pm on Sunday, March 4.
Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said officers have collected 380 pieces of evidence of what he branded an "attempted murder", .
One theory put forward by experts is the nerve agent was placed in the car's ventilation system or dusted somewhere they would touch it.
What we know so far:
- Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury on March 4
- Police say they were deliberately targeted with a rare nerve agent
- Prime Minister Theresa May accused Russia of poisoning Skripal using deadly nerve agent novichok
- Cops are looking for a woman who walked around Salisbury in a black face mask one hour before Skripal was attacked
- The first Wiltshire cop on the scene is also ill in hospital but hopes were raised for his recovery now he is awake and talking
- Russian state TV warned 'traitor' double-agents they are not safe in the UK
- It was revealed Sergei's MI6 contact had links to poisoned ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko
- Cops want to hear from anyone who saw the red BMW (HD09 WAO) in Salisbury
"Using the car would explain why both Mr Skripal and his daughter got a dose,"said Philip Ingram, a former British military intelligence officer.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Theresa May gave Vladimir Putin a deadline of midnight to explain if Russia had a part in the poisoning.
Mrs May added that, if no "credible" explanation came within the next ten hours, she would declare it "an unlawful use of force".
Dr Vil Mirzayanov, a Russian chemist who helped to make novichok, hundreds could be at risk from this exposure for years to come.
Public Health England have sought to calm fears by saying the risk to the general public is still minimal.
The chemical weapon was designed by Russian scientists to kill thousands in battle in the 1980s and questions remain over how it came to be used in the UK.
Mrs May spoke out as investigators probing the attack in Salisbury, Wilts, descended on a village six miles away, and France, Germany and the US offered their support.
When asked by journalist Steve Rosenberg "is Russia behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal?" the smirking Kremlin strongman said: "Look, we're busy here with agriculture.
The 66-year-old ex-KGB spy and his daughter Yulia, 33, were exposed to an "unknown substance" while out in Salisbury on Sunday March 4 - they were found slumped on a bench in a ";catatonic state".
The pair are still fighting for their lives after the attack as British intelligence race to work out where the poison came from.
Russia's UK embassy have denied that their special services were involved and said it "is not to blame".
The Moscow embassy summoned British ambassador Laurie Bristow to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Vladmimir Titov where Mrs May's demands were reiterated.
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Sergei also faced personal tragedies involving his wife, son and brother.
His wife Liudmila died from cancer in 2012 and in the last two years he lost his older brother and his 43-year-old son Alexandr.
His son Alexandr was said to have died from liver failure on holiday in St Persburg last year.
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