Salisbury Novichok victim’s agony after unwittingly giving girlfriend poisoned perfume bottle that killed her

Salisbury Novichok victim Charlie Rowley has revealed his guilt over unwittingly giving his girlfriend a poisoned perfume bottle that later killed her.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died in hospital in July 2018 after being exposed to the nerve agent via a fake Nina Ricci sample the builder had found discarded in a bin.

Mr Rowley, who was also left seriously ill, has opened up about the guilt he still feels over the death of his “soulmate” and how the tragic events unfolded as the fourth anniversary of the poisonings approaches.

He told the Sunday Mirror: “Dawn and I had been together for 18 months when she died.

“I was lucky enough to be rehomed a few months after meeting her.

“With little cash, I furnished the flat with items that would’ve been thrown away. I scoured charity shops and bins, getting electrical equipment and stuff. I found all sorts – gold necklaces, earrings, treasures for Dawn.

“Going through one bin, I found a perfume box. ‘Wahey, winner!’ I thought. It was sealed in plastic, expensive-looking, so I pocketed it.

“Unwittingly, I’d done something the police hadn’t managed in three months since the Skripal attack – I’d found the Novichok bottle.”

Mr Rowley, 44, said the perfume was so tightly closed when he handed it to the mother-of-three on the morning of 30 June 2018 that he had to use a sharp knife to open it and he thought it was strange that the nozzle needed attaching.

He said Ms Sturgess sprayed her wrists while he went to wash his hands – but when he came back she was unresponsive and foaming at the mouth.

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Mr Rowley said he called a friend who rang for an ambulance before his own behaviour changed and he too frothing at the mouth.

The couple were both rushed to hospital while police declared a major incident.

Ms Sturgess later died while Mr Rowley was treated in hospital for three weeks.

“When I woke up and came off the ventilator a doctor explained that Dawn had died,” he told the Mirror.

“I couldn’t take it in. The police explained the perfume contained Novichok.”

Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, who was found unconscious alongside his daughter Yulia on a park bench in Salisbury on 4 March 2018, is believed to have been the target of the poisoning.

But investigators do not know what happened to the weapon between then and 22 June 2018, when Mr Rowley discovered the perfume sample.

Mr Rowley, who lost all his belongings and his home after his flat had to be demolished, said he still feels responsible for what happened to Ms Sturgess and wants justice for her.

“I didn’t mean to, but I killed my girlfriend. How do you ever get over that? I can’t,” he told the Mirror.

“I want justice for Dawn. I want people to be caught, but I don’t expect that to happen. I carry a lot of guilt. I literally poisoned my girlfriend. Unknowingly, but I still did it. It’s not a good thing to live with.”