Ex-chief medical officer had ‘nightmares’ about someone picking up Novichok vial

Former chief medical officer for England Dame Sally Davies said she had nightmares about someone picking up the discarded nerve agent Novichok after the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry heard.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she was exposed to the chemical weapon, which was left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018.

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

All three survived, as did Ms Sturgess’s boyfriend Charlie Rowley, who had unwittingly given her the bottle containing the killer nerve agent.

Dame Sally told the inquiry on Monday that she worried someone would pick up discarded Novichok after the Skripals were poisoned in March 2018, and she discussed messaging around advising people not to pick up something they did not drop and thought she had said it publicly, but can find no evidence of that.

Dame Sally said: “I had nightmares that someone would pick up some discarded stuff and I worried about this.”

She added: “Once we knew that there had been Russian involvement, that unless they were stupid, they would not cork it up, put it in their pocket and take it home, that therefore there was a risk that it had been discarded.”

Dame Sally said: “I remember worrying about it from the moment I knew that Russian agents had been involved, whenever that first was.”

In her witness statement, read to the inquiry by Francesca Whitelaw KC, counsel to the inquiry, Dame Sally said: “After the point at which we learned we were dealing with Novichok from Russia (Tuesday 6 March), I recall that I was concerned about the disposal by the foreign agents of any residual nerve agent.

“I remember raising this during at least one meeting and becoming reassured, one that the police were hunting for a discarded vial including by the river in Salisbury where drug syringes etc were thrown and two, that the Environment Agency would monitor the unusual numbers of dead fish appearing in the river.

“This led to me later saying publicly that no one should pick anything up which they had not dropped.”

In the statement she added that she attended a meeting where there was discussion as to whether she could give this message publicly, and there was “concern” that making such a statement would “panic the public”.

Dame Sally said the discussion ended with the agreement that she was independent and experienced and could say what she felt mattered, but she added that the only record of her making this statement is her own statement in September when she referred to advice she gave in March.

Asked by Ms Whitelaw if it was possible she raised the suggestion of a “don’t pick up” message but it was not stated as it could cause panic, Dame Sally said: “It may be, yes, but I don’t remember anyone muzzling me if that’s what you’re asking.”

Jesse Nicholls, counsel for Ms Sturgess’s family, suggested Dame Sally was saying she had given the advice publicly in the March “because that obviously should have happened but it didn’t”, to which she replied: “No, you are trying to suggest there was a cover-up, there was no cover-up.”

A letter from Dame Sally to Sir Jeremy Heywood dated March 16 said that on March 7, at the request of No 10 and the Metropolitan Police, she issued a statement alongside Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley announcing that the risk to public health as a result of the incident was “low, based on the current evidence available”, the inquiry heard.

Earlier on Monday, Detective Inspector Ben Mant of Wiltshire Police told the inquiry the decision to search the Skripals’ home after they were poisoned with Novichok “still haunts me”, after former police officer Mr Bailey also became contaminated with the nerve agent.

There were a number of hypotheses prior to the search being carried out, which included potential poisoning in food, Mr Mant added.

On the decision to search the property, Mr Mant told the inquiry: “It’s something that still haunts me, as clearly Sergeant Bailey became very ill as a result of our actions that night.”

Mr Mant said it was his decision to search the house, as his overriding concern was there could be another person inside the home who was “injured or potentially dying”.

The inquiry continues.