Dawn Sturgess partner reveals mother-of-threes tragic final moments after she was poisoned by deadly nerve-agent hidden inside perfume bottle
Dawn Sturgess boyfriend has told an inquiry into her death of the heart-wrenching moment he tried to give her CPR after finding her convulsing and foaming at the mouth after being exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok.
Dawn Sturgess boyfriend has told an inquiry into her death of the heart-wrenching moment he tried to give her CPR after finding her convulsing and foaming at the mouth after being exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok.
Charlie Rowley said he had told his girlfriend look what I found as he unwittingly gave her the bottle, which resembled a perfume bottle, before she sprayed it on her wrist in June 2018.
Ms Sturgess, 44, died days later after spraying herself with the bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire.
It came the attempted murders of former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and then-police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned with the substance in nearby Salisbury in March that year.
Mr Rowley told the inquiry that she described feeling very, very strange and went to lie in the bath, a decision he said was strange. He then went into the bathroom and found her in a desperate state, prompting him to call 999.
Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she was exposed to the Russian nerve agent Novichok, which was left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018
The discarded perfume packaging found by Charlie Rowley, who gave the bottle to Ms Sturgess unaware it contained Novichok
Mr Skripal is seen giving bread to a young boy, watched by his daughter Yulia, in this image released by the inquiry from March 4 2018. They had already been poisoned with Novichok at this stage
Police officers in July 2018 at the home of Charlie Rowley in Amesbury, Wiltshire, who - along with his partner Dawn Sturgess - was exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok
The inquiry began on Monday and resumed today with a witness statement from Mr Rowley, which was read out on his behalf by Andrew OConnor KC, counsel to the inquiry.
In the statement, which was read to the inquiry on Wednesday, he recalled giving her the perfume bottle on June 30: 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, shed 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 didnt know what to do.
Thoughts were running through my head and I didnt 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 said he forgot where he lived and ran around his flat looking for some paperwork with his address on.
He then gave her CPR as he waited for an ambulance arrived, adding: It felt like the whole time she was getting worse, and worse, and worse, to the point she stopped breathing and was trying to breathe, and then I had to pull her out of the bath.
I would like to clarify that Id taken Dawn out of the bath before I called 999. The bath had not contained any water, Dawn was wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
He said the ambulance then arrived and he started pacing backwards and forwards before Ms Sturgess left in the ambulance. She died on July 8.
Mr Rowley said he had found the perfume in a cardboard box containing a plastic case, which itself contained a pump dispenser and a glass bottle wrapped in tough plastic.
The packaging had made him think it was a genuine product, and it had a brand name that Ms Sturgess had recognised.
JUNE 29: Other CCTV images showed Dawn Sturgess enjoying a day of shopping in Salisbury. She was poisoned a day later and died on July 8
Caroline Sturgess paid tribute to her daughter at the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry yesterday
Caroline Sturgess arrives at the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry at Salisbury Guildhall in Wiltshire today
Police investigating Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury, where Dawn Sturgess had been before she fell ill after coming into contact with Novichok, in July 2018
A photo of Dawn Sturgess issued by the Home Office earlier this month ahead of the inquiry
His statement said: On Saturday 30th June I woke up reasonably early in the morning with Dawn at my flat in Amesbury, it was between about 9.30 and 10 oclock.
I was hanging around in the kitchen area and I spotted the package that Id picked up a couple of days prior and thought nows 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, shes 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 Id found the perfume the other day. I wouldve asked her what she made of it and if she knew if it was any good.
He added: Dawn looked at it and opened it, possibly tried to assemble it, couldnt get into the packet, passed it back to me, I opened the box by unfolding the top lid of the cardboard box.
I tried to open the wrapper around the bottle but it was a tough plastic, I had to get a knife to cut the plastic wrapper open. The plastic was like polythene-type plastic. I thought because of the plastic it was a genuine product and also Dawn knew the name, I cannot remember what it was called.
He said he spilled the nerve agent on his hands while trying to assemble the bottle - adding that it didnt smell like perfume.
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 didnt smell like perfume, I sniffed my hands but didnt get any on my nose, but it touched my skin. It was just an oily substance. I cant remember what it smelt like. It wasnt a horrible odour, but not like something I had smelt before.
I thought "thats not right". I was quite covered in it, so I had to wash my hands.
CCTV shows former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia happily strolling around Salisbury on March 4, 2018 - utterly unaware they had been poisoned with Novichok. This image was taken at 3.35pm on March 4
3.37pm - 4.15pm: The pair on a bench where they began to fall ill from the highly toxic substance
The father and daughter are believed to have been targeted by Russian agents, with police naming two Russian nationals Antaoly Chepiga, also known as Ruslan Boshirov (left), and Alexander Mishkin, also known as Alexander Petrov (right), as suspects
The pair later appeared in an interview on Russian state television claiming to be tourists who were visiting Salisbury on the advice of friends
MARCH 3, 2.50pm: Suspected Russian assassins Petrov and Boshirov walk south along Salisburys India Road
The doorknob of Mr Skripals home, which the Novichok is believed to have been smeared on
He said he put the bottle back on the windowsill and washed his hands. Dawn fell ill around 15 minutes later, according to transcripts of a police interview later conducted with Mr Rowley.
Yesterday, the inquiry heard from Ms Sturgess mother Caroline Sturgess, who described her daughter as an intelligent ... extremely selfless and very kind person.
She also read a short statement from Dawns daughter, who cannot be named, who said she never got the chance to say goodbye to her mother due to her age.
Giving a short statement to the inquiry from the witness box, Dawns mother said: Now, she would have been a grandmother but she will never have the absolute joy of meeting her first grandchild and doesnt get to watch her grow.
She was an intelligent, funny, extremely selfless and very kind person. She always cared deeply for her family and many friends that surrounded her.
She did not judge a single person and strived to make others happy, even when she didnt feel like smiling herself.
Ms Sturgess added: We understand that the perfume bottle contained enough Novichok to kill thousands of people.
Again, although we are devastated by her death, our family find comfort that Dawn was the only life lost that day when the potential harm was much, much more. We know she would agree.
Also today, Wiltshire Polices Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills apologised to Dawns family after internal force documents suggested she was a known drug user.
Mr Mills said there were reasons to suspect that she may have become unwell due to her association with drugs, but added that there was no police intelligence that she was a drug user.
In September 2018, Scotland Yard charged two GRU spies - who travelled under the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - with the attempted murder of the Skripals and the poisoning of two Wiltshire Police officers, but not over the death of Ms Sturgess.
The pair later appeared on Russian state television, saying they were the people seen in CCTV around the time of the poisoning.
However, they claimed to be tourists who were visiting Salisbury on the advice of friends because it is a wonderful city, citing the cathedral and its 123m as a particular reason to visit.
A third Russian, Sergey Fedotov, also a suspected GRU spy, was charged three years later in connection with the poisoning.
An international arrest warrant was issued for the trio, although Russia does not allow the extradition of its citizens meaning it is unlikely they will ever face trial in the UK.
