Counter-terrorism police left officers in Salisbury feeling as if they were “overreacting and completely making things up” when they suggested an ex-Russian spy may have been poisoned.
At the Dawn Sturgess Public Inquiry in London on November 7, counsel to the inquiry Andrew O’Connor KC questioned deputy chief constable Paul Mills from Wiltshire Police.
It was heard at the inquiry that in an email from April 2021 from Wiltshire Police, inspector Gill Hughes said special branch had been “very dismissive” of the information provided about Sergei Skripal’s poisoning by the force’s control room.
Wiltshire Police, which the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry heard is the third smallest force in the country, was also told by counter-terrorism police that they were “not aware” that Mr Skripal was housed in Salisbury and “were not taking any further action”.
The inquiry was told officers had searched on Google for information on the Skripals and had found articles describing Mr Skripal as a “former Russian intelligence officer convicted of spying for the UK”.
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Emails exchanged in the days after the Novichok poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia, between counter-terrorism officers, expressed concerns over the Wiltshire force “disturbingly” removing officers from guarding the cordon at Mr Skripal’s address.
Mr O’Connor KC questioned Mr Mills about the removal of officers from the “extraordinarily dangerous” cordon, saying: “It does seem pretty extraordinary that potentially it was being left unattended at night?”
DCC Mills responded: “If that was the case I would be significantly concerned in relation to that.”
An email from Inspector Hughes said: “With the information shared (special branch) did not appear to show any interest in what we were concerned about, and from memory was very dismissive and acting totally that we were overreacting despite concerns from our CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) (adviser) who had observed the body worn video and appeared to be the same person as identified on internet.
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“Despite trying to confirm that actions were being completed by SB, he came back and said that SB were not aware that Skripal was housed in Salisbury and that they were not taking any further action. This resulted in me getting Supt Corner to call him direct to discuss.
“All the delays in confirming who it was/concerns it could be CBRN meant that the hospital was not advised of our concerns and the subsequently potentially impacting the medical treatment.
“What would have been good to know or at least advise was that it was being treated as serious where as we were left believing that SB and London were just thinking we were overreacting and completely making things up that were not there.”
The inquiry continues until December 2.
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