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Salisbury nerve agent attack: Sergei Skripal and daughter were poisoned with novichok on their front door

Around 250 counter terrorism detectives continue to investigate

Thursday 29 March 2018 09:02 BST

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Salisbury nerve agent attack: Sergei Skripal and daughter were poisoned with novichok on their front door

The former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are believed to have been poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent at their home, police said.

Detectives identified the highest concentration of the novichok nerve agent on the front door of their address in Christie Miller Road, in Salisbury.

Mr Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, remain in critical condition in hospital.

The Metropolitan Police said traces of the nerve agent have been found at some of the other scenes detectives have been working at over the past few weeks, but at lower concentrations.

Detectives will now focus their inquiries in and around the address, and specialist teams will step back from some of the other areas investigated over the past few weeks.

Around 250 counter terrorism detectives continue to work around the clock on the investigation, supported by a full range of experts and partners.

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

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1/15Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Scene of attack

Members of the emergency services in hazard suits fix the tent over the bench where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury in March 2018.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Victim - Sergei Skripal

The retired Russian colonel and former double agent for MI6 was in a critical condition in hospital for more than two months after being exposed to novichok in Salisbury. He was given refuge in the UK after being jailed in Moscow for treason. Mr Skripal came to Britain as part of a high-profile “spy swap” in 2010 in which four men were exchanged for ten Russian "sleeper agents" in the US. In this image he is speaking to his lawyer from behind bars in Moscow in 2006.

AP

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Victim - Yulia Skripal

Yulia Skripal was struck down by a novichok poison alongside her father Sergei.

Facebook

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Scene of attack

A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi where the pair dined at before falling ill. It was boarded off whilst investigators worked on the building and later found traces of the chemical weapon within it.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Scene of attack

Large areas of central Salisbury were cordoned off by police following the discovery of the Skripals. Traces of nerve agent were also found in The Mill pub.

PA

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Victim - Nick Bailey

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, rushed to the aid of the Russian ex-spy and his daughter who were targeted with a nerve agent. He was hospitalized after aiding them and didn't leave until three weeks after the attack.

Wiltshire Police/Rex

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation - Skripal’s home

Police believe they were poisoned at home, and detectives found the highest concentration of novichok on the front door of Mr Skripal’s house.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Theresa May visits scene of attack

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May spokes with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard near where the Skripal's were found. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Skripal days before attack

Sergei Skripal days before he was exposed to Novichok, that has left him fighting for life.

ITV News

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation - military involvement

British soldiers were deployed soon after the attack to help a counter-terrorism investigation into the nerve agent attack. One of the places they were asked to help out with was Skripal's home and it's surrounding. They were asked to remove a vehicle connected to the agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation

Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equipment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital.

AFP/Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation

The investigation extended to the grave of Sergei Skripal's son Alexander in London Road cemetery.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Police investigation

The Counter Terrorism Policing Network requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from Salisbury.

EPA

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Home Secretary visits scene of attack

Home Secretary Amber Rudd visited the scene of the nerve agent attack at the Maltings shopping centre on 9 March.

Getty

Skripal attack aftermath – in pictures

Yulia Skripal speaks for the first time

Yulia Skripal, speaking for the first time, said she felt lucky to have survived the nerve agent attack in Salisbury which left her fighting for life. Ms Skripal said her life had been “turned upside down” by the assassination attempt. But the Russian national added she hoped to return to her homeland one day, despite the Kremlin being blamed for the attack.

Reuters

Officers continue to trawl through more than 5,000 hours of CCTV and examine over 1,350 exhibits that have been seized.

Around 500 witnesses have been identified and hundreds of statements taken.

The London Road cemetery, where his wife and son are buried, the Maltings shopping centre where Mr Skripal and his daughter were discovered unconscious, and the Ashley Wood compound have been handed back into the control of Wiltshire Police.

A police officer stands behind cordon tape in an alleyway which has been blocked off near the home of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury (REUTERS/Peter Nicholls) (Reuters)

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing said: “At this point in our investigation, we believe the Skripals first came into contact with the nerve agent from their front door.

“We are therefore focusing much of our efforts in and around their address."

Police offers at the crime scene of the nerve-agent attack in Sailsbury (Getty Images)

It comes after Russia, which has faced increasing global isolation after being held responsible for the attack, suggested UK intelligence officers may have been involved in the poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

The Kremlin made the allegation after at least 26 countries expelled a total of more than 130 suspected Russian spies in response.

Britain insists there is no other plausible explanation for the novichok attack and has dismissed a series of suggestions emanating from Moscow as nonsense.