LONDON
\nBritain announced on Thursday a public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who was exposed to nerve agent Novichok after the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018.
\nSturgess, 44, died after spraying herself with what she thought was perfume from a discarded bottle which in fact contained the deadly chemical weapon.
\nThe bottle was allegedly used to carry the poison used in the attack on Skripal in the small English city of Salisbury.
\nSkripal was found with his daughter Yulia, both unconscious, on a bench in the city. They survived after being taken to hospital and now live under protection.
\nInterior minister Priti Patel said she hoped the inquiry \u201cwill bring comfort\u201d to Sturgess\u2019 family \u201cthrough a greater understanding of the circumstances\u201d of her death.
\nHeather Hallett, a member of the upper chamber of parliament the House of Lords, will chair the probe, which is due to begin next year.
\nHallett has been in charge of a coroner\u2019s inquest into Sturgess\u2019 death but in September wrote to Patel saying a \u201cfull, fair and effective\u201d hearing could not be held without wider powers.
\nAn inquest, which is limited in scope, \u201ccannot make any finding of civil or criminal liability against a named person, and it cannot attribute blame or impose any sanction or punishment,\u201d she added.
\nBritain blames the attack on two Russian security service officers who allegedly entered Britain using false passports.
\nIn September, London warned the pair \u2014 and a third agent who allegedly led the operation \u2014 they faced arrest and prosecution if they ever leave Russia.
\nThe Kremlin has vehemently denied any link to the Skripal attack.
\nThe Skripals spent days in a coma before recovering but local resident Sturgess died after picking up the discarded bottle.
\nHer partner, Charlie Rowley, spent weeks in hospital and a police officer also received a non-lethal dose of the Soviet-era nerve agent.
\nThe incident resulted in the largest ever expulsion of diplomats between Western powers and Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Britain announced on Thursday a public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who was exposed to nerve agent Novichok after the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. Sturgess, 44, died after spraying herself with what she thought was perfume from a discarded bottle which in fact contained the deadly chemical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[310,309,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-228201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world","7":"tag-caught","8":"tag-skripal-attack","9":"tag-uk"},"yoast_head":"\n