Paramedic recalls row with police over whether patient had Novichok poisoning

Police and paramedics rowed implicit whether a Novichok unfortunate had been poisoned by the nervus agent, an enquiry heard.

There were “heated” conversations betwixt a paramedic and constabulary officers who were not wearing idiosyncratic protective instrumentality portion Charlie Rowley was being treated, the enquiry into the decease of his spouse Dawn Sturgess heard.

Police initially suspected Mr Rowley had suffered a cause overdose.

Ms Sturgess, 44, died aft she was exposed to the chemic weapon, which was near successful a discarded perfume vessel successful Amesbury, Wiltshire, successful July 2018.

And I can't callback the conversations, but I retrieve them becoming heated, but not rude, arsenic to 'we're truly concerned, delight could you stock immoderate accusation with america arsenic to wherefore you're truthful definite that this is not nervus cause poisoning'

Ben Channon, paramedic

It followed the attempted murders of erstwhile spy Sergei Skripal, his girl Yulia and then-police serviceman Nick Bailey, who were poisoned successful adjacent Salisbury successful March that year.

All 3 survived, arsenic did Ms Sturgess’s boyfriend, Mr Rowley, who had unwittingly fixed her the vessel containing the slayer nervus agent.

On Friday, the enquiry heard that erstwhile constabulary arrived astatine the spot successful June 2018 the paramedics already determination presumed the 2 officers would beryllium successful protective equipment.

But they arrived without it, and paramedic Ben Channon said helium was “fearful for their information and advised them that they needed to don due idiosyncratic protective instrumentality earlier coming forward”.

Mr Channon said the officers were “overly assured that this was apt a cause overdose arsenic opposed to thing else”.

Mr Channon told the enquiry helium was “quite frightened astatine the time” and asked what was making the officers deliberation it was thing different than nervus cause poisoning.

He added: “And I can’t callback the conversations, but I retrieve them becoming heated, but not rude, arsenic to ‘we’re truly concerned, delight could you stock immoderate accusation with america arsenic to wherefore you’re truthful definite that this is not nervus cause poisoning’.”

Temporary constabulary sergeant Ian McKerlie said the paramedics treating Mr Rowley were “insistent helium was presenting with the aforesaid symptoms arsenic the Salisbury incident” and described them arsenic “agitated”, the enquiry heard.

One of the paramedics said to him “what gives you the close to question our objective judgment?”, Emilie Pottle, counsel to the inquiry, said. Sergeant McKerlie replied that helium “never questioned their aesculapian judgment”.

Sergeant McKerlie said helium inactive thought the origin was a drugs overdose, but began having “reservations” erstwhile helium began asking questions and they were “quite insistent”.

Before helium went successful the flat, Sergeant McKerlie said helium was told by a workfellow determination was immoderate “drugs quality pertaining to that code and to the people”.

Asked if helium should have, successful hindsight, fixed much value to their objective appraisal of what was causing Mr Rowley’s symptoms, helium said: “In hindsight, yes, arsenic I said, I conscionable started to person reservations, and it was thing that, you know, I wanted to sermon with a work inspector arsenic and erstwhile helium arrived connected the scene.”

Earlier successful his grounds connected Friday, Mr Channon described Mr Rowley arsenic acting “grossly abnormal” compared with thing helium had encountered before.

Mr Channon said helium recovered Mr Rowley “up against a wall” with his hands “almost arsenic if helium was climbing down the wall” and “making noises precise overmuch similar a cow”. The paramedic besides noticed “profuse amounts of saliva coming from his mouth”.

He remembered helium and his ambulance workfellow “looking astatine each different and being precise acrophobic that this behaviour was grossly abnormal successful examination to thing that we possibly encountered before”.

Mr Channon assessed Mr Rowley, donned idiosyncratic protective instrumentality and updated the power room, arsenic helium was acrophobic it could beryllium poisoning from a state leak and poisoning from an chartless substance, the enquiry heard.

And having worked locally aft the Salisbury poisonings a fewer months previously, that was the “immediate concern”, Mr Channon added.

In his witnesser statement, work retired by counsel to the enquiry Francesca Whitelaw KC, helium said helium thought the symptoms were “not the mean presumption of a drugs overdose, which we thought it initially could person been”.

Paramedics administered Naloxone to dainty a imaginable opioid overdose, but it “did not person immoderate effect”, the enquiry heard.

Mr Channon said: “At that point, (colleague) Mr Martin and I came together, and Mr Martin suggested, helium said, this is precise akin to what we learnt astir pursuing the Salisbury incidents.”

Mr Rowley was past fixed atropine which would dainty the symptoms of nervus cause poisoning, the paramedic added.