What's happened
An ongoing inquiry into the novichok poisoning of Dawn Sturgess has revealed significant missteps by police, including false claims about her drug use. Senior officers have publicly apologized for their statements, which lacked supporting intelligence and caused distress to Sturgess's family. The inquiry continues to examine the circumstances surrounding her death.
Why it matters
What the papers say
According to The Guardian, two senior police officers have apologized for mischaracterizing Dawn Sturgess as a known drug addict, stating, "I now know that there is no intelligence to support the contention that Dawn Sturgess was herself a user of illegal drugs or an addict." This acknowledgment came during an inquiry into her poisoning, which has revealed significant missteps in the police's initial assessment of the situation. BBC News reported that the police's initial hypothesis was that Sturgess and her boyfriend had ingested contaminated drugs, which influenced their public statements. The inquiry continues to explore the implications of these errors and their impact on the victims' families.
How we got here
Dawn Sturgess died on July 8, 2018, after being exposed to novichok, a nerve agent. This exposure occurred months after the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury. The inquiry aims to clarify the events leading to Sturgess's death and the police's handling of the case.
Common question
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Why Did Police Apologize for Mischaracterizing Dawn Sturgess?
The recent apology from police officers regarding the mischaracterization of Dawn Sturgess has raised many questions about the implications of their statements and the ongoing inquiry into her tragic poisoning. This incident not only highlights the importance of accurate information in police communications but also sheds light on the public's reaction to such missteps. Below, we explore the key questions surrounding this case.
More on these topics
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Sergei Viktorovich Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent for the UK's intelligence services during the 1990s and early 2000s.
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The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, also known as the Salisbury Poisonings, was a botched assassination attempt to poison Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies in the city of Salisb
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Novichok is a series of binary chemical weapons developed by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993. Russian scientists who developed the nerve agents claim they are the deadliest ever made, with some variants possibly five to eight times more
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Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 40,302, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately 20 miles from Southampton and 30 miles from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wiltshi
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Wiltshire is a county in South West England with an area of 3,485 km². It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
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Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is an opioid used as a pain medication and together with other medications for anesthesia. Fentanyl is also used as a recreational drug, often mixed with heroin or cocaine.
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Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish.