NERVE AGENT MURDER
Salisbury poisonings – what’s the true story behind the BBC One drama?
THE infamous Salisbury poisonings have become the inspiration for a new drama on BBC One.
But what is the story behind how Dawn Sturgess ended up the victim of a Novichok nerve agent?
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What happened in Salisbury?
Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, were rushed to Salisbury Hospital after they were found unconscious at a home in nearby Amesbury, Wilts on June 30, 2018.
Scotland Yard later confirmed Dawn Sturgess had died and police launched a murder probe.
Rowley regained consciousness and has since been released from hospital, although he later fell ill again.
On July 11 police recovered a bottle of Novichok from the Amesbury flat.
It is believed the couple picked up a perfume bottle that may have been discarded by the bungling assassins who tried to kill MI6 mole Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March - almost four months prior.
Dawn may have been exposed to ten times the dose of nerve agent received by the Skripals.
In August 2018, Charlie was rushed to intensive care after going blind - but his illness is not believed to be an effect of Novichok.
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Who are the Salisbury poisoning suspects?
In September police revealed names and photos of two Russian men wanted over the attempted hit on the Skripals.
Cops issued a European Arrest Warrant for Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
The CPS said there was enough evidence to charge them with conspiracy to murder.
The suspects were caught on CCTV in Salisbury at 11.58am on Sunday, March 4, “moments before the attack”, police said.
It is understood Petrov and Boshirov stayed in the City Stay Hotel in Bow, East London, during their time in the UK.
Boshirov's real name is reportedly Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a 39-year-old soldier who served in both Chechnya and Ukraine.
A former Russian officer told that Chepiga's high rank suggested the Novichok hit was ordered "at the highest level".
Petrov was later revealed to be Dr Alexander Mishkin, a doctor in Russia's military intelligence agency.
He travelled to Salisbury under the alias Alexander Petrov.
Mishkin was recruited into the GRU while undergoing his medical training.
Cops searching their room on May 4 - almost two months after the attack in Salisbury - are said to have discovered minute traces of Novichok.
Police said the nerve agent was brought into Britain in a Ninna Ricci Premier Jour perfume bottle with a specially made poison applicator.
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What has happened since the poisoning?
Dawn Sturgess's bereft boyfriend and fellow poison victim, Charlie Rowley has revealed he plans to sue Russia for £1million over his girlfriend's death.
Rowley – who lost his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess and was in a coma for two weeks – has hired top injury lawyer Patrick Maguire.
He told "This has affected my life in a huge way. I want justice."
Rowley's lawyer has previously represented victims of the 2017 London Bridge and Westminster terror attacks, and is proposing suing the Russian government "among other options."
The third Russian agent implicated in the Salisbury nerve agent attack has been linked to the poisoning of up to three people in Bulgaria.
He was identified as a 45-year-old Russian travelling under the alias Sergey Vyacheslavovich Fedotov.
Fedotov is a senior GRU officer who was in the UK at the time of the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in March.
He is believed to have arrived in Bulgaria in 2015 just days before a local entrepreneur and his son became seriously ill after being poisoned with an unidentified substance, reported .
British officials are set to face their Russian counterparts as they brief the United Nations Security Council on September 6, 2018.
Prosecutors will tell the UNSC that there is enough evidence to charge the two men suspected of being behind the nerve agent attack.
Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and will be represented at the meeting alongside UK allies the US and France.
In an address to MPs, Prime Minister Theresa May claimed the suspects are officers from Russia's military intelligence service the GRU.
Moscow continues to deny involvement in the attack.
When did Dawn Sturgess die?
The mum-of-three passed away on July 8 - eight days after she collapsed.
Scotland Yard have now launched a murder probe and although police did not reveal the mum's cause of death, it is thought she suffered heart failure.
PM Theresa May said: "I am appalled and shocked by the death of Dawn Sturgess, and my thoughts and condolences go to her family and loved ones.
"Police and security officials are working urgently to establish the facts...now being investigated as a murder."
When was Dawn's funeral?
Dawn's son, Ewan Hope, had been told that a funeral may not take place for months because her body is "property of the Crown".
However following a post mortem Dawn's body was released by Coroner David Ridley to her family so they could make arrangements to bury her.
Her funeral took place on July 30 at Salisbury Crematorium with her daughter, 11, making a "moving" eulogy.
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Where is Amesbury?
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, and is best known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge.
It has been confirmed by archaeologists that it is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United Kingdom, having been first settled around 8820 BC.
Amesbury is located in southern Wiltshire, seven miles north-north east of Salisbury.
The town sits in the River Avon valley on the southern fringes of Salisbury Plain.
Where is the case now?
The conclusion of the case remains uncertain.
Scotland Yard officers are still investigating the attack, after charging Chepiga and Mishkin with conspiracy to murder and Novichok possession in September.
Sajid Javid has said that as Russia will not extradite the suspects, and they can only be detained if they enter a nation that complies with European Arrest Warrants and Interpol red notices, catching them is unlikely.
“If they ever step out of the Russian Federation, Britain and its allies will get them and we will bring them to prosecution,” the former Chancellor of the exchequer vowed.
MORE ON THE RUSSIAN SPY POISONING
When is The Salisbury Poisonings on TV?
The three-part drama will be stripped across three consecutive nights on 14, 15 and 16 June on BBC One at 9pm.
Each episode will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer after they air.
The drama was previously announced by BBC Two in back May 2019, and began filming at the end of October 2019.
The first episode of the three-part series will be on BBC One at 9pm on June 14.
Trailer for chilling new BBC three-part series The Salisbury Poisonings
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