The Novichok poisonings inquiry will look at whether an “innocent” British woman died after she was caught in the “crossfire of an illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt”.
Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the Russian nerve agent which was left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018.
It followed the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and then police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in nearby Salisbury in March that year.
They were poisoned when members of a Russian military intelligence squad are believed to have smeared the nerve agent on Mr Skripal’s door handle.
All three survived, as did Ms Sturgess’s boyfriend Charlie Rowley, who had unwittingly given her the bottle containing the killer nerve agent.
An international arrest warrant was issued for three Russian men thought to be involved in the attacks on British soil, but as the Russian constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens, it is unlikely they will ever stand trial.
Andrew O’Connor KC, counsel to the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, said on Monday: “It’s no exaggeration to say the circumstances of Dawn Sturgess’s death were extraordinary, they were indeed unique.”
The counterfeit perfume box found by Charlie Rowley (Metropolitan Police/PA)
Ms Sturgess “lived a life that was wholly removed from the worlds of politics and international relations”, he added.
“When Ms Sturgess was poisoned by Novichok four months after the Skripal poisoning, the real possibility emerged that she had been caught – an innocent victim – in the crossfire of an illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt.
“Whether or not that is in fact what happened will, of course, be for you to determine.”
The perfume bottle carrying Novichok that fatally poisoned Ms Sturgess contained “enough poison to kill thousands of people”, the inquiry was told.
Mr O’Connor said: “A particularly shocking feature of Dawn’s death is that she unwittingly applied the poison to her own skin.
“She was entirely unaware of the mortal danger she faced, because the highly toxic liquid had been concealed – carefully and deliberately concealed – inside a perfume bottle.
“Moreover, the evidence will suggest that this bottle – which we shall hear contained enough poison to kill thousands of people – must earlier have been left somewhere in a public place, creating the obvious risk that someone would find it and take it home.
“You may conclude, sir, that those who discarded the bottle in this way acted with a grotesque disregard for human life.”
After her death, Mr Rowley described Ms Sturgess as “a lovely lady, she had a big heart, she’d help anyone if she could” and her mother said Ms Sturgess was “the happiest she’d been for a long time”, the inquiry heard.
Ms Sturgess suffered from long-term dependence on alcohol, but in the months before her death was “settled and happy”.
Demolition work was undertaken at the former home of Novichok victim Charlie Rowley, on Muggleton Road, Amesbury, Wiltshire (Andrew Matthews/PA)
Her family want to understand why doctors initially theorised that her symptoms may have been caused by a drug overdose when she was taken to hospital after coming into contact with Novichok, Mr O’Connor said.
He added that the family wished to know “whether any of the things that may have gone wrong in Dawn’s treatment could have made a difference to her chances of survival”, adding: “To use a legal term – if there were failings, were they causative?”
The inquiry was also told Mr Skripal was born in Russia and served as a paratrooper and later as a member of the GRU – Russian military intelligence.
He was convicted in Russia on espionage charges in 2004, he was alleged to have spied for Britain, Mr O’Connor said.
Mr Skripal was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but in 2010 he was given a presidential pardon and brought to the UK on a prisoner exchange, he added.
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He had lived in Salisbury since 2010.
It was previously revealed that the Skripals would not give evidence at the inquiry amid fears for their safety.
It comes as Wiltshire Police said people in Salisbury city centre could expect to see an increased police presence for the duration of the hearing.
They added that there was “no current intelligence to suggest there is any risk to the wider public”.
The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Lord Hughes of Ombersley, opened at the Guildhall in Salisbury and will continue until December.