Novichok: Inquiry into Dawn Sturgess's death to finally start next week
Evidence will start to be heard from Thursday 17th March
A public inquiry into how Durrington mum Dawn Sturgess came to be fatally poisoned by novichok will finally get underway in less than a week's time.
The Home Office has appointed a new chair for the hearings, Lord Hughes of Ombersley.
His job will be to assess how Dawn came into contact with the nerve agent and the Russian state involvement in the incident.
The inquest into 44 year old Dawn's death has been turned into a full public inquiry, with proceedings expected to take place in both London and Salisbury.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a ministerial statement:
"The current inquest will be suspended after the establishment of the inquiry. The inquiry will formally start on March 17.
"This is an important step in ensuring that the family of Dawn Sturgess get the answers they need."
WHAT HAPPENED?
It's been four years since the Salisbury novichok incident, which saw the attempted murder of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and ex-Wiltshire Police officer Nick Bailey.
Three months later, Charlie Rowley found a discarded perfume bottle in Salisbury, which contained novichok.
Both he and his girlfriend, Dawn Sturgess, came into contact with the nerve agent at his flat in Amesbury.
Dawn died at Salisbury District Hospital eight days later.
Charlie, the Skripals and Nick all survived the attack.
It's alleged three Russian suspects - Denis Sergeev, Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the aliases Sergey Fedotov, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - were involved in the incidents.
The Met Police has warrants out for their arrests.