2018 Amesbury poisonings

On 30 June 2018, in Amesbury, two British nationals, Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, were admitted to Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire, England.

According to the subsequent press report released by the Metropolitan Police, at 10:15 on Saturday 30 June 2018, the South Western Ambulance Service was called to a residential address in Amesbury after Dawn Sturgess had collapsed.

[7] He told his brother Matthew the nerve agent had been in a small perfume or aftershave bottle, which they had found in a park about nine days before spraying themselves with it.

But on 2 July, hospital staff had concerns over the symptoms the couple were displaying, and sent samples from both patients to the Government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down for analysis.

These included the local Boots Pharmacy, the Baptist Centre, and Muggleton Road in Amesbury, and Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury.

[15] On 6 July, police announced that officers had identified and spoken to several key witnesses and were reviewing more than 1,300 hours of CCTV footage which has been collected so far.

[22] Also on 13 July, the intergovernmental Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) received a request from the UK for technical assistance on the incident in Amesbury.

[25] On 5 September 2018, Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the police had "no doubt" that this incident was connected to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

"[26] On the same date, the Metropolitan Police released a detailed description of the Salisbury poisoning and named Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov as the suspects wanted.

[27] The announcement went on to state that the investigation into the Amesbury poisoning was ongoing by the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service, and further charges relating to Sturgess and Rowley would follow.

[28][needs update] The inquest for Sturgess was opened and adjourned by HM Coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon in Salisbury on 19 July 2018, with a Pre-Inquest Review listed for 16 January 2019.

[37] Rowley gave an interview to ITV News on 24 July 2018, stating that he believed a sealed box of a recognisable brand of perfume, which he had found and given to Sturgess, was the source of the Novichok.