Public inquiry into death of Dawn Sturgess

Today, the Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced that the government will establish a public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who died in July 2018 following exposure to the nerve agent Novichok.

The inquiry will be chaired by the honourable Baroness Heather Hallett DBE. Baroness Hallett is a Crossbench Life peer who was nominated by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, to lead the investigation and inquest into Dawn Sturgess’ death.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

We are establishing an inquiry to ensure that all relevant evidence can be considered, with the hope that the family of Dawn Sturgess will get the answers they need and deserve.

I want to thank Baroness Hallett for agreeing to take on the role of chair and will be carefully considering her recommendations in this case. Above all though, my thoughts remain with Dawn’s family.

The inquiry will be undertaken by Baroness Hallett alone as Chair, and the inquiry’s investigations will be a matter for the chair.

As the sponsoring department, the Home Office will provide support and ensure that the inquiry has the resources that it needs, reporting to the Home Secretary. An inquiry allows consideration of material and hearings in closed proceedings. This has been done for other investigations such as the inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko and the Manchester Arena Inquiry.

Read the Home Secretary Priti Patel’s statement on the UK Parliament website.