Dawn Sturgess found foaming at mouth in bath after spraying Novichok on wrist, inquiry hears

Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess told her boyfriend she felt “very, very strange” before he found her lying in the bath, “convulsing and foaming at the mouth”, an inquiry has heard.

Charlie Rowley told police Ms Sturgess began to feel unwell around 10-15 minutes after spraying the nerve agent on her wrist on 30 June 2018.

Mr Rowley said in a witness statement that he had told the 44-year-old “Look what I found” when he unwittingly gave her a perfume bottle containing Novichok.

Ms Sturgess later died after being exposed to the chemical weapon from the discarded perfume bottle found in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

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

Describing Ms Sturgess’s reaction after spraying the substance on her wrists, Mr Rowley said in a statement: “I do not know what Dawn thought, but it was after this she said she felt very unwell, but I thought this was because we were hungover.

“Dawn began feeling unwell about 10 to 15 minutes after she sprayed the perfume on her wrist.

“She was sat on the sofa and having a discussion about finishing doing her hair. She wanted to put some hair colour in her hair, she’d just put blonde in her hair and she wanted to put some blue, blue colouring or something.

“She said that I might need to help her, but then she said that she felt ‘very, very strange’ and that she had to go and lie in the bath, which I thought was a bit strange.

“After a minute I went into the bathroom to see what she was doing and I found her lying in the bath with her clothes on, just lying in the bath, convulsing and foaming at the mouth, and I panicked, I didn’t know what to do.

“Thoughts were running through my head and I didn’t know what to do, I was thinking ‘What do I do? What do I do?’. The only thing I could think was to call 999. I did that and had a complete memory blank.”

Mr Rowley recalled intending to give the perfume bottle to Ms Sturgess as a gift.

His statement, read on Wednesday by counsel to the inquiry Andrew O’Connor, continued: “I was hanging around in the kitchen area and I spotted the package that I’d picked up a couple of days prior and thought ‘Now’s a better time than ever to give her a present’.

“I showed it to Dawn – I think I took it off the kitchen table to show her, I was hungover.

“I just remember thinking ‘Oh, I remember finding that’. I think Dawn was a bit moody with me, she’s quite subdued and she was talking about doing her hair colour and I showed her the perfume.

“I think I said ‘Look what I found’. Before I gave it to her, I told her that I’d found the perfume the other day. I would’ve asked her what she made of it and if she knew if it was any good.”

Mr Rowley said he spilt the nerve agent on his hands as he tried to assemble the perfume bottle.

His statement said: “Once the plastic was open, Dawn tried to assemble it and failed, so I tried and managed to pour it over my hands. I can’t remember if there was anything on the top of the opening of the bottle.

“Dawn was trying to push the plug on top to fasten it. I used quite a bit of force, but it spilt.

“I think it spilt near the microwave or near the sofa. Once the top was fastened, Dawn sprayed it once on herself, she sprayed it on her wrist.

“I sniffed it but it didn’t smell like perfume, I sniffed my hands but didn’t get any on my nose, but it touched my skin.

“It was just an oily substance. I can’t remember what it smelt like. It wasn’t a horrible odour, but not like something I had smelt before.

“I thought ‘That’s not right’. I was quite covered in it, so I had to wash my hands.”

Mr Rowley said that, since coming into contact with Novichok, he has felt “anxious” and has had a “lot of peculiar dreams”.

He said: “I have very little memory of what happened before I was poisoned. This was, and is, partly because of the Novichok itself.

“I noticed that it affected the thought processes in my head. Since the poisoning, it’s been a lot harder to think and to concentrate.

“I tend to overthink things, I feel anxious often, I’ve had a lot of peculiar dreams.”

Mr O’Connor said Mr Rowley’s memory is “also bad because of (his) daily large amounts of alcohol, methadone and/or other drugs”.

An international arrest warrant was issued for three Russian men thought to have been involved in the attacks on British soil, but because the Russian constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens it is unlikely they will ever stand trial.

Two suspects gave an interview with Russian state media in which they said they were only in the UK briefly, to visit Salisbury Cathedral.

The inquiry continues.

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