Judge rules that scope of Novichok victim Dawn Sturgess inquest was wrongly limited

Novichok victim: Dawn Sturgess (Picture: PA)

A coroner wrongly narrowed the scope of an inquest into the death of a woman poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok, judges have ruled.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, was fatally poisoned by the nerve agent in Salisbury at the end of June 2018.

The same chemical had been used to target former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city earlier in the year.

Relatives of Ms Sturgess had taken High Court action in a bid to get “key questions” raised over the investigation of senior coroner for Wiltshire, David Ridley.

Ms Sturgess died in hospital in Salisbury in July 2018 after collapsing at her partner Charlie Rowley’s home in Amesbury (PA)

They said Mr Ridley had wrongly decided to limit what would be considered at an inquest.

Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Lewis decided on Friday that the scope of the inquest was limited.

But they also ruled that Mr Ridley does not have to investigate “Russian state responsibility” and the “source” of the Novichok when conducting an inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess

They considered the case at a recent, virtual, High Court hearing and published a ruling on Friday.

Ms Sturgess died in hospital in Salisbury in July 2018 after collapsing at her partner Charlie Rowley’s home in Amesbury.