ON the final day of evidence being heard in open session at the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry, the director general for defence and intelligence gave evidence about the Russian State's responsibility behind the poisonings.
Mr Jonathan Allen appeared at the inquiry in London on November 28. At the time of the Skripal poisonings in March 2018, he was the UK ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the UN security Council in New York
Questioned by counsel to the inquiry Mr O'Connor, Mr Allen was asked about how His Majesty's Government (HMG) came to the conclusion that Russia was responsible for the chemical attack which saw Ms Sturgess lose her life.
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Mr Allen did not think the act of poisoning the Skripals was intended to be “entirely covert”.
“Use of a nerve agent in this way is clearly going to be traced back to Russia", he said.
“Even if it were not found in a post mortem, the fact it was sprayed on a door handle and persists in the environment means that people would have been, every time someone touched that door handle they would fallen ill so eventually it would've had to have been found.
"That’s why I believe it wasn't intended to remain covert entirely. It was meant to act as a warning, in my view."
To read all of the evidence heard today, read this: Live: Dawn Sturgess Public Inquiry in London
A government statement about the attack was shown and read to the inquiry.
An extract of it says: "In the immediate aftermath of the attack, HMG maintained an open mind as to who was responsible for the attack.
"Following investigations which have since been conducted, however, HMG has not identified any evidence which would support the suggestion that any state other than Russia was responsible."
Mr Allen says to the inquiry that investigations in the UK are started by and led by police and once the investigation uncovered details like the Skripal's identities and the weapon used, it led to the initial conclusion from the government.
"Every additional piece of evidence that's been found from the police investigation, or the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have simply added to that view," he added.
The OPCW is the only global body that exists for the prohibition of chemical weapons.
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He continued "We have heard that for terrorists or criminals to get hold of this substance would be extremely difficult.
"It seems unlikely that there's a particular motive there that would adduce to a non-state actor or any other state. So that collectively led to the conclusion."
The inquiry also heard that part of Russia's chemical weapons programme, which began in the Soviet Union and involved the production, stockpiling and deployment of nerve agents, included the idea of using a door handle as a point of contamination.
Following an extract from a letter being read to the inquiry, Mr O'Connor clarified with Mr Allen: "In other words the Russian State has previously produced Novichoks and would still be capable of doing so and is understood as of April 2018 to have been produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichoks within the decade before that, does that remain HMG's assessment?"
Mr Allen has confirmed, saying there is "an assumption of stockpiling".
The inquiry will end on Monday, December 2.
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