Forensic personnel searching for Novichok suffered hypothermia

Forensic officers engaged in the search for the nerve agent Novichok, following an attack on a former Russian spy, experienced hypothermia, a counter-terrorism forensics chief has stated. Former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia, and then-police officer Nick Bailey were poisoned by Novichok in Salisbury in March 2018. All survived; however, Dawn Sturgess, 44, died four months later after being exposed to the chemical in nearby Amesbury. Keith Asman, head of forensics and digital investigations for the south-east region counter-terrorism unit, reported that officers operated through “extremes of weather.” He characterized the task as incredibly difficult, “like searching for a needle in a haystack” without knowing what the needle was. Mr. Asman informed the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry on Thursday that baseline blood tests were conducted for forensic staff to ensure they had not been contaminated, given the hazardous nature of the work. Mr. Skripal and his daughter became ill after contamination by Novichok found on the front door handle of his Salisbury home. Mr. Bailey was subsequently also poisoned. Ms. Sturgess, a mother of three from Wiltshire, died after spraying herself with Novichok that had been contained in a discarded perfume bottle. Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, had found and given it to her. The inquiry heard that senior police officers aimed to trace the nerve agent’s container after the Skripals’ poisoning. He stated: “We were searching for a needle in a haystack. “We didn’t know what the needle looked like, or where the haystack was, or if it was even in the country.”We had absolutely no idea what we were looking for.” In March 2018, periods of very tough weather occurred, including Storm Emma and heavy snow. Mr. Asman said: “We worked through extremes of weather, so officers became sick through hypothermia as when they left the premises, having been in a hot environment with PPE, they’d come out and go through safe undressing in an area where it was snowing, albeit we had tents over us.” Mr. Asman, whose prior professional cases include the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko and the 7/7 bombings in London, indicated that officers initially examined flower pots and drains around Mr. Skripal’s house before expanding the search area. He explained that during a later search in the summer, after Ms. Sturgess had become ill in June 2018, officers then experienced heat exhaustion due to PPE. The inquiry continues.