Inquiry told of hunt for ‘ground zero’ in novichok poisoning of Sergei Skripal

Counter-terrorism police chief says 250 officers were sent to Salisbury to investigate poisoning of former Russian spy

A counter-terrorism police chief has described how hundreds of investigators and scientists painstakingly worked to trace ground zero" - the spot where the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned with a nerve agent.

Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Met police's counter-terrorism command, told an inquiry into the novichok poisonings that a restaurant, pub and a car were suspected before the door handle of Skripal's home was pinpointed as the source of the poisoning almost two weeks after the Skripals fell ill.