LONDON — The British police announced on Friday that they had found “a small bottle” containing Novichok, providing a possible break in the four-month-old investigation into an attack on a former Russian spy and the inquiry into the poisoning of two British citizens. The bottle was found in the home of Charlie Rowley, 45, in Amesbury, England. He and his partner, Dawn Sturgess, 44, were exposed to the nerve agent on July 1. “This is clearly a significant and positive development,” Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the head of the national counterterrorism squad, said of the discovery on Friday. “However, we cannot guarantee that there isn’t any more of the substance left and cordons will remain in place for some considerable time.” He said the police could not reveal any more details about the bottle, which was being examined by experts at Porton Down, the British government’s laboratory for chemical and biological weapons.<doc-sep>Police have recovered the source of novichok that killed a woman and left her partner severely ill in Wiltshire, as international chemical weapons investigators travel to Britain. The nerve agent was found inside a “small bottle” in Charlie Rowley’s home in Amesbury, where he and Dawn Sturgess fell ill almost two weeks ago. The discovery will allow scientists at the government’s Porton Down defence laboratory to test whether the substance is from the same batch used against Sergei Skripal. Police are investigating the possibility that the culprit discarded a novichok container that was picked up unwittingly by Ms Sturgess and Mr Rowley four months later. The British government has invited experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (Opcw), which previously confirmed novichok was used against the Skripals, to assist the investigation. They will collect samples to be analysed at designated international laboratories, as efforts to find out where the chemical weapon is from and how it was deployed on UK soil continue. “The use of chemical weapons is unacceptable and contravenes international law,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said. “The UK remains committed to upholding the integrity of the Opcw as the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention overseeing the global ban on their use.” The bottle was found inside Mr Rowley’s home in Muggleton Road, Amesbury (Reuters) The British government holds Russia responsible for both incidents but the Kremlin has denied any involvement, while its state media has spread conspiracy theories. Scotland Yard said the bottle of nerve agent was recovered during searches of Mr Rowley’s home in Amesbury on Wednesday and taken to the Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory for tests. “Scientists have now confirmed to us that the substance contained within the bottle is novichok,” a spokesperson added. Recommended Woman dies after being exposed to novichok in Amesbury incident “Further scientific tests will be carried out to try and establish whether it is from the same batch that contaminated Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March – this remains a main line of enquiry for police. “Inquiries are underway to establish where the bottle came from and how it came to be in Mr Rowley’s house.” The end of an almost two-week search for the source of contamination will allay public health fears in Salisbury and Amesbury, where police cordoned off several locations visited by the couple before they fell ill on 30 June. A senior government scientific source previously told journalists including The Independent that the nerve agent could have been smuggled through a British airport in a “discreet” container. He said the perpetrator of the original attack on Mr Skripal would have to be “highly trained” to deploy novichok without coming into contact with it, possibly wearing protective equipment. The difficultly of synthesising the chemical, which was first developed by the Soviet Union, and danger of administering it are among the factors cited as indicators of Russian responsibility by the government. Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Show all 40 1 /40 Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Forensic investigators, wearing protective suits, emerge with bagged evidence from the rear of John Baker House in Salisbury, after it was confirmed that two people living in Amesbury had been poisoned with the nerve-agent Novichok. Reuters Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Dawn Sturgess, a mother-of-three from Durrington, died after being exposed to novichok Facebook Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok British police are scouring sections of Salisbury and Amesbury in southwest England, searching for a container feared to be contaminated with traces of the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Reuters Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Officers hope that Charlie Rowley, whose partner Dawn died in hospital, can help them establish how the couple came to be contaminated AFP Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok An investigator in a chemical suit works behind screens erected in Rollestone Street PA Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Fire and Rescue Service personel arrive with safety equipment at the site of a housing estate on Muggleton Road, after it was confirmed that two people had been poisoned with the nerve-agent novichok, in Amesbury Reuters Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Forensic investigators at John Baker House Reuters Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Police and military personnel seized a car from a quiet residential street in Swindon as part of their ongoing investigations into the nerve agent incident in Salisbury and Amesbury SWNS Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Emergency workers in military protective suits search the fenced off John Baker House AP Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Reuters Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Forensic investigators at John Baker House Reuters Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Emergency services arrive at John Baker House EPA Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Dorset Fire and Rescue Service at the house PA Amesbury major incident after couple exposed to novichok Tents set up by search teams are seen at the end of Rollestone Street, outside the John Baker House for homeless people in Salisbury. British police are scouring sections of Salisbury and Amesbury in southwest England, searching for a container feared to be contaminated with traces of the deadly nerve agent Novichok.<doc-sep>The investigation into Russia’s suspected use of novichok in Britain intensified after police found a bottle containing the military-grade nerve agent in a Wiltshire home where a British couple fell ill after being poisoned by it. Counter-terrorism officers in protective suits found the container – believed to have contaminated Charles Rowley and killed Dawn Sturgess at a property in Amesbury, Wiltshire on or around 30 June – after six days of searches. The Guardian understands tests show both Sturgess and Rowley handled the bottle with their right hands. Quick Guide What is novichok? Show Novichok refers to a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s to elude international restrictions on chemical weapons. Like other nerve agents, they are organophosphate compounds, but the chemicals used to make them, and their final structures, are considered classified in the UK, the US and other countries. The most potent of the novichok substances are considered to be more lethal than VX, the most deadly of the familiar nerve agents, which include sarin, tabun and soman. Novichok agents work in a similar way, by massively over-stimulating muscles and glands. Treatment for novichok exposure would be the same as for other nerve agents, namely with atropine, diazepam and potentially drugs called oximes. The chemical structures of novichok agents were made public in 2008 by Vil Mirzayanov, a former Russian scientist living in the US, but the structures have never been publicly confirmed. It is thought they can be made in different forms, including as a dust aerosol. The novichoks are known as binary agents because they only become lethal after mixing two otherwise harmless components. According to Mirzayanov, they are 10 to 100 times more toxic than conventional nerve agents. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images Europe Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Investigations continue on several fronts. Police have been trying to discover how the bottle and nerve agent got there, while chemical weapons experts at Porton Down were testing the substance to see if it was from the same batch as used in Britain four months earlier – a finding that carries huge diplomatic implications. Sturgess, 44, died on Sunday, around nine days after she and Rowley, 45, were exposed to novichok. Police believe the nerve agent that contaminated the couple was discarded during the March attempted assassination of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in their Salisbury home. Skripal has been regarded by Vladimir Putin’s regime as a traitor for selling state secrets and then defecting to Britain. Scientists hope there will be enough novichok left in the bottle for them to determine whether it came from the same batch used in the Skripal attack. They will compare whatever is left in the bottle with a small sample recovered from the door of the Skripal’s home. They now have small quantities from both incidents in their possession. If the samples are found to be from the same batch, it would mean whomever ordered and carried out the Skripal attack would be suspects in the murder investigation launched after Sturgess died in hospital. Britain believes those who tried to murder the Skripals were under the control and direction of the Russian state. The criminal inquiry and diplomatic implications only seem to be growing after the discovery of the bottle containing the novichok in Rowley’s home. The Guardian understands that experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will be invited to Britain to check if the findings that Rowley and Sturgess were poisoned by novichok and other key findings are correct. It would be a prelude to putting further pressure on Moscow with the March novichok attack leading to the expulsion of Russian diplomats by Britain and other countries as a show of outrage against the Putin regime’s use of the nerve agent in the territory of a sovereign country. Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command have been leading the investigations into the nerve agent poisonings. On 29 June Sturgess and Rowley were in several locations around Salisbury, including a homeless hostel where she lived. They travelled by bus to Rowley’s Amesbury home where they are believed to have spent the night. The following day they both fell ill, with police announcing on 4 July that Porton Down scientists had found the British couple had been exposed to novichok. Searches began on 6 July of Rowley’s home and it was not until Wednesday that the bottle was discovered by officers, who were battling searing sunshine and protective suits to stop them being exposed to the lethal toxin. In a statement announcing the discovery of the source of the novichok, police said: “On Wednesday 11 July, a small bottle was recovered during searches of Charlie Rowley’s house in Amesbury. “It was taken to the defence, science and technology laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire, for tests. “Following those tests, scientists have now confirmed to us that the substance contained within the bottle is novichok. Further scientific tests will be carried out to try to establish whether it is from the same batch that contaminated Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March – this remains a main line of inquiry for police. “Inquiries are under way to establish where the bottle came from and how it came to be in Charlie’s house.” Searches at other sites in Salisbury continue, including the homeless hostel where Sturgess lived and Queen Elizabeth Garden, a park where both had been the day before they fell ill. Police have not ruled out that other dangerous material may still be out there. Rowley has recovered consciousness and has begun talking to detectives waiting by his bedside. He and Sturgess are believed to have handled the bottle, with novichok recovered from swabbing of their right hands. Neil Basu, the head of UK counter-terrorism policing, said: “This is clearly a significant and positive development. However, we cannot guarantee that there isn’t any more of the substance left and cordons will remain in place for some considerable time.<doc-sep>And it also may provide a significant piece of evidence in trying to establish how Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley came to be poisoned - and what link there might be with the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.<doc-sep>
LONDON (Reuters) - British counter-terrorism police said on Friday they believed they had found the source of the Novichok nerve agent that killed a woman in southwest England and left her partner critically ill in hospital. Dawn Sturgess, 44, died this month, just over a week after she was exposed to Novichok near the city of Salisbury where Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were struck down with the same poison in March. Sturgess’ partner, 45-year-old Charlie Rowley from Amesbury, a town a few miles from Salisbury, is now recovering in hospital. “On Wednesday ... a small bottle was recovered during searches of Charlie Rowley’s house in Amesbury,” police said in a statement. “Scientists have now confirmed to us that the substance contained within the bottle is Novichok.” More tests were being carried out to try and establish whether it is from the same batch that contaminated the Skripals and inquiries were under way to establish where the bottle came from, the statement added. “This is clearly a significant and positive development. However, we cannot guarantee that there isn’t any more of the substance left,” said Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing. He declined to give further details on the bottle, but police said inquiries were ongoing to establish where the bottle came from and how it came into Rowley’s possession. Further tests are also being carried out to see if the Novichok came from the same batch that was applied to the front door of Skripal’s house in Salisbury. Britain and its allies blamed Russia for the attack in March on the Skripals, prompting the biggest Western expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War. Moscow has rejected the accusations and has hit back by expelling Western diplomats. Britain has invited independent technical experts from the international chemical weapons watchdog to travel to the UK early next week to independently confirm the identity of the nerve agent, the British Foreign Office said on Friday. An inquest into Sturgess’ death is set to open and adjourn in Salisbury on next Thursday.