Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on the inquiry into the poisoning of woman killed by nerve agent

 A public inquiry is to begin later in Salisbury, England, to examine how a woman was killed in a 2018 poisoning blamed on Russian agents.

44-year-old Dawn Sturgess died after spraying herself with Novichok - the same chemical weapon used to target a former Russian spy four months earlier.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says the inquiry will examine the circumstances leading up to the death and establish where the responsibility for the incident lies. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
With us right now as Gevin Gray UK corresponding to
Kevin either Gevin, this public inquiry into how this woman
died in Salisbury, the Novachok case. What don't we know
that we need to know?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah, a very good question. I think plenty of people
would be asking. We've seen to have a lot of
public inquiries in this instance. It's really I think in
looking at how perhaps future first responders might be better protected.
The inquiry will examine the circumstances leading up to the
death and try to establish where the responsibility lies and

(00:34):
highlight any lessons. That's the official sort of reasons for
doing it. The forty four year old Dawn Sturgis was
killed after coming into contact with Navichok, just four months
after the same chemical weapon was used to target Serge
scrip Al, a former Ration spy in Salisbury. Of course,
it became known as the Salisbury poisonings back in March

(00:56):
of twenty eighteen. The Scripps survived. However, it appears Dawn
Sturges with her then boyfriend, found a package in a
public wastebin, thought it was luxury perfume and took it home.
She obviously put it on herself and sadly later died.
He incidentally was very very seriously ill, but managed to survive.

(01:18):
The inquiry starts at the Guildhall in Salisbury in just
four hours time from now, but after a one week
where they will have heard from missus Sturgis's mother. The
rest of the week then focuses on the experience of
those local responders, and then after that first week there'll
be a week's break and then moving into central London

(01:40):
where they'll hear about the targeting of serge and you
really scripal the form of Russian spy and his daughter. Incidentally,
some of the public hearings will be on will be redacted. Effectively,
they're going to be on a short delay and that
could mean that some of it is not heard in
public owing to the fact that there are a nationals
ceyk security fears the scriptules themselves not giving evidence fears

(02:03):
for their security.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Kevin, what do you make of Poland suspending the right
to asylum?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, very very interesting. This So Donald Tusk is the
current Prime Minister of Poland, and he was also the
former head of the European Commission and as such, everything
that the countries did, he was very keen in seeing Sorry,
the European Council. I meant to say, he was very
supportive of the Unified Bloc with countries, you know, aligning

(02:32):
policies and dejectives. But now he's Prime Minister of his
own country, things seem to be changing, shall I say.
And he's basically saying that Belarus and Russia are behind
a massive migration into Poland, and it's he claiming it
to be hybrid warfare. What he's suggesting is that those countries,
Belarus and Russia are deliberately getting these migrants that are

(02:56):
from mostly from the Middle East but also from North
of Africa, going through Belaries and they're encouraging them to
go into Poland to destabilize the European Union. Both countries
incidentally deny this is doing that. Certainly, the numbers entering
Poland from Middle East, Africa Asia absolutely rocketing, and Poland

(03:18):
simply said have had enough and saying right, well, we're
going to sort of have a temporary suspension of that. However,
he's got to get that sort of through the European
Union and that will be a tough ass because it
is Poland and every country's law that they have to
process asylum seekers. So yeah, there's going to be a
bit of a standoff here.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Interesting. Now, why is it significant that Christopher Columbus might
have been Spanish and Jewish.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, it's just a change of what the historians think
and have always thought, because they've always really thought that
he was from Genoa and was an Italian. However, the
study of DNA actually now contradicts that traditional theory, which
many historians have actually questioned. Anyway, they actually think he

(04:08):
concealed his Jewish identity or converted to Catholicism in order
to escape religious persecution. That they believe that those expeditions
across Atlantic in fourteen ninety two, which of course you know,
pretty much changed the course of world history, that he
was probably born in Western Europe and yet likely in Spain.
This was after a study of really lots of different parts.

(04:31):
But also it began at Granada University with a historian
there exhuoming what were believe to be the remains of
Columbus from Sevil Cathedral and then testing the DNA.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
How fascinating. Hey, Gvin, thanks very much, really appreciate its
Devin Gray are UK correspondent for more from hither Duplessy
Allen Drive.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
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