Amesbury novichok incident: Police find source of nerve agent in 'small bottle' inside victim Charlie Rowley's home
'Forensic gold mine' provides new hope for investigations into Skripal poisoning and the murder of Dawn Sturgess
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Police have recovered the source of novichok that killed a woman and left her partner severely ill in Wiltshire, as international chemical weapons investigators travel to Britain.
The nerve agent was found inside a “small bottle” in Charlie Rowley’s home in Amesbury, where he and Dawn Sturgess fell ill almost two weeks ago.
The discovery will allow scientists at the government’s Porton Down defence laboratory to test whether the substance is from the same batch used against Sergei Skripal.
Police are investigating the possibility that the culprit discarded a novichok container that was picked up unwittingly by Ms Sturgess and Mr Rowley four months later.
The British government has invited experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (Opcw), which previously confirmed novichok was used against the Skripals, to assist the investigation.
They will collect samples to be analysed at designated international laboratories, as efforts to find out where the chemical weapon is from and how it was deployed on UK soil continue.
“The use of chemical weapons is unacceptable and contravenes international law,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.
“The UK remains committed to upholding the integrity of the Opcw as the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention overseeing the global ban on their use.”
The British government holds Russia responsible for both incidents but the Kremlin has denied any involvement, while its state media has spread conspiracy theories.
Scotland Yard said the bottle of nerve agent was recovered during searches of Mr Rowley’s home in Amesbury on Wednesday and taken to the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory for tests.
“Scientists have now confirmed to us that the substance contained within the bottle is novichok,” a spokesperson added.
“Further scientific tests will be carried out to try and establish whether it is from the same batch that contaminated Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March – this remains a main line of enquiry for police.
“Inquiries are underway to establish where the bottle came from and how it came to be in Mr Rowley’s house.”
The end of an almost two-week search for the source of contamination will allay public health fears in Salisbury and Amesbury, where police cordoned off several locations visited by the couple before they fell ill on 30 June.
A senior government scientific source previously told journalists including The Independent that the nerve agent could have been smuggled through a British airport in a “discreet” container.
He said the perpetrator of the original attack on Mr Skripal would have to be “highly trained” to deploy novichok without coming into contact with it, possibly wearing protective equipment.
The difficultly of synthesising the chemical, which was first developed by the Soviet Union, and danger of administering it are among the factors cited as indicators of Russian responsibility by the government.
Declassified British intelligence states that in the 2000s a covert Russian programme trained agents in “ways of delivering nerve agents, including by application to door handles” – the method used to attack Mr Skripal.
Andrea Sella, professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London, described the bottle found in Amesbury as a “forensic gold mine”.
“Not only is having a significant quantity of sample a real treasure trove to make detailed investigations of the sample, the bottle itself is likely to provide significant clues about its provenance,” she added.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the head of UK counterterror policing, hailed “a significant and positive development”.
“We cannot guarantee that there isn’t any more of the substance left and cordons will remain in place for some considerable time,” he added.
“This is to allow thorough searches to continue as a precautionary measure for public safety and to assist the investigation team.
“I also appreciate there is a lot of interest in this; however, we are not in a position to disclose any further details regarding the bottle at this stage. The safety of the public and our officers remains paramount.”
Wiltshire police chief constable Kier Pritchard said private security guards would be manning some of the cordons starting next week, following the redeployment of thousands of police officers to guard Donald Trump’s UK visit.
“This week I’ve been visiting residents of Amesbury and Salisbury and it’s clear that this is a close-knit community that is very much open for business despite the recent challenges they have faced,” he added.
Officials said the risk to the wider public in Wiltshire remains low and no one else has fallen ill in connection with the incident.
Public Health England is maintaining its advice not to pick up “strange items” including syringes, needles, cosmetics or similar objects made of materials such as metal, plastic or glass as a precaution.
Ms Sturgess, a mother-of-three from Durrington, died at Salisbury District Hospital on Sunday evening and police have launched a murder investigation into her death.
A post-mortem is scheduled to take place on Tuesday and an inquest will open and adjourn in Salisbury two days later.
Mr Rowley collapsed hours after his partner on 30 June and was taken to hospital critically ill, but has since regained consciousness and spoke to police for the time on Wednesday.
He remains in a serious but stable condition as 100 counterterror detectives work on the case alongside Wiltshire Police.
“Officers from the investigation team have spoken to Charlie and will be speaking to him further to establish how he and Dawn came to be contaminated,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said.
“This contact is being done in close consultation with the hospital and the doctors.”