Police Official Apologizes for Remark Regarding Novichok Victim

A police official has issued an apology for incorrectly characterizing Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess as a “well-known drug addict.” Temporary Superintendent Kerry Lawes of Wiltshire Police informed an investigation into Ms Sturgess’s fatality that “there was no intelligence” to substantiate the remark. Ms. Sturgess passed away on 8 July 2018, following exposure to the nerve agent, which had been contained within a discarded perfume bottle. The inquiry was informed last week that a former Russian spy and his daughter, who had been poisoned by the same substance several months prior, were initially believed to have experienced an opioid overdose. Both Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia survived their exposure to the agent, as did then-police officer Nick Bailey. Ms. Sturgess’s boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, who had unknowingly provided her with the bottle containing the lethal nerve agent, also survived the event. Earlier, the Sturgess inquiry was told that paramedics who responded to Mr. Rowley’s condition concluded he was suffering from nerve agent poisoning, a view with which the police diverged. The inquiry also learned that Mr. Rowley was recognized by Wiltshire Police as a drug user. Although Wiltshire Police’s Chief Constable Catherine Roper had previously offered an apology for Ms. Sturgess being characterized as a “known drug user,” Monday marked Ms. Lawes’ initial public apology. In an email dispatched to the coroner on July 1, preceding Ms. Sturgess’s death, she stated that the police had received an account of potential nerve agent poisoning, which she considered to be a drug overdose. Within the email, Ms. Lawes, then a Detective Sergeant during the poisoning incident, asserted that the ambulance and fire brigade personnel at the scene had “panicked somewhat,” further remarking that Ms. Sturgess and Mr. Rowley were “two well-known drug addicts.” Ms. Lawes, unable to be present at the inquiry personally, expressed regret for her statement that the ambulance and fire services had “panicked.” She stated, “I have stated the ambulance and fire panicked somewhat, this was an unprofessional comment to make and I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for it.” In a written declaration presented to the inquiry previously, Ms. Lawes indicated that her conviction that the incident was drug-related stemmed from information she had obtained from police sources. She additionally apologized for documenting that Ms. Sturgess was an addict. She affirmed, “I now know there is no intelligence to support the assertion that Dawn Sturgess was herself a user of illegal drugs or an addict.” She further noted that she had consistently acted in good faith and based on what she perceived to be in the best interests of the individuals concerned. Detective Sergeant Eirin Martin also provided testimony to the inquiry. She received a case handover from then-Detective Sergeant Lawes on July 2. She stated that the police’s initial theory was that Ms. Sturgess and Mr. Rowley had consumed drugs adulterated with pesticides, leading to an overdose. Due to this hypothesis, she requested Wiltshire Police’s media team to issue a press release on July 2, cautioning the public about a potential “bad batch” of drugs. She commented, “At the point I made the press release in relation to the contaminated drugs that was, at that point, the primary hypothesis.” The inquiry remains ongoing.