Salisbury poisoning inquiry: police apologise for calling victim a ‘drug addict’

Dawn Sturgess died in July 2018 after she was exposed to novichok in discarded perfume bottle in Wiltshire

Two senior police officers have apologised to Dawn Sturgess's family for falsely describing her as a known drug addict while she was in hospital for the novichok poisoning that killed her, an inquiry has heard.

One of the officers, who liaised with the hospital treating Sturgess, also apologised for claiming in an email that ambulance and fire service crews who came to her aid had panicked somewhat" by concluding her condition was the result of nerve agent poisoning.