Presenters on ITV's Good Morning Britain shared a significant and sombre update on Thursday, December 4th, concerning a death that profoundly shocked the nation.
Live Update from Salisbury
During the programme, hosts Charlotte Hawkins and Ed Balls were joined by weather presenter Alex Beresford and newsreader Jonathan Swain. It was Swain who delivered the crucial announcement that the final report from the public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess would be published later that day.
Sturgess, a mother of three, died in Salisbury District Hospital in July 2018. Her death was linked to the Russian nerve agent Novichok, months after the same substance was used in the attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia, and police officer Nick Bailey in March of that year.
The Tragic Chain of Events
Correspondent Richard Gaisford, broadcasting live from Salisbury, recounted the harrowing timeline. "Yulia and Sergei Skripal were found collapsed on a bench behind where I'm standing," he reported, noting the bench had since been removed.
He explained how months later, Charlie Rowley discovered what he believed was a perfume bottle in a bin. He gave it to his girlfriend, Dawn Sturgess. Both fell critically ill. While Rowley survived, Sturgess tragically died on July 8th, 2018.
Scope of the Public Inquiry
The investigation into her death, overseen by retired Supreme Court justice Lord Hughes of Ombersley, began its public sessions in October 2024. The seven-week inquiry occasionally sat in private for national security reasons.
The inquiry examined two critical questions: whether UK authorities had sufficient safeguards in place to protect Sergei Skripal, and whether Sturgess's poisoning could have been avoided if public warnings about discarded objects had been issued after the initial attack.
Gaisford emphasised the inquiry's focus on how the emergency services were prepared to handle the discovery of the Novichok source months after the Skripal incident. He stated the findings would be "significant" and revealed the nation would learn the outcome at lunchtime on Thursday.
The report marks a pivotal moment in understanding the events surrounding one of the most alarming chemical weapon attacks on British soil.
