Dawn Sturgess: Special safety measures in place ahead of Salisbury Novichok victim's funeral

Dawn Sturgess was described as a 'lovely lady with a big heart'
AFP/Getty Images
Tom Powell30 July 2018

Special safety measures have been put in place to protect mourners at the funeral of Novichok murder victim Dawn Sturgess.

The mother-of-three will be cremated in Salisbury on Monday after she died in hospital at the age of 44 earlier this month.

The funeral directors have been working with Public Health England (PHE) and the crematorium to prevent any further exposure to the deadly nerve agent Novichok.

There will be no pallbearers and the coffin will already be in place when people arrive for the service.

Dawn Sturgess died in hospital days after being exposed to a nerve agent
AFP/Getty Images

Reverend Philip Bromiley, who will be leading the service, said: "I have got every confidence in the powers that be that they know what they're doing.

"They have been doing a lot of work, they have put various measures in place to make sure everyone is as safe as possible."

PHE would not comment on the funeral but a spokeswoman repeated the general advice to the public that the risk remains "low".

Ms Sturgess died on July 8 after she and her partner Charlie Rowley both fell ill after coming into contact with Novichok at the end of June.

Charlie Rowley described the moment his partner applied the nerve agent to her wrists, believing it to be perfume
ITV

Mr Rowley, 45, said the deadly nerve agent took just 15 minutes to poison Ms Sturgess after she sprayed the "oily" substance on to her wrists believing it was perfume he had given her as a gift.

Rev Bromiley said he had heard Mr Rowley, who was discharged from hospital earlier this month, would be going to the service, which he hoped would be well attended.

He said he had been working with her mother and father to plan the funeral, while Ms Sturgess's daughter had chosen the first hymn, Shalom Shalom.

"That hymn has set the tone for the whole service," he said.

Investigation: the home of Charlie Rowley, 45, in Muggleton Road in Amesbury
PA

"We will be wanting to do two things. One is to celebrate Dawn's life, and two, really give thanks for the person that Dawn was because she was a really kind, loving, generous person and I think the family are really keen that that comes across in the service.

"But also, we want to pray that shalom, that peace, will come and permeate through the service and help everyone who's at the service, and also pray for peace for the family, for the city and for everybody involved."

Mr Rowley and Ms Sturgess were victims of the second nerve agent incident in four months following the case of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March.

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