The daughter of a woman killed by the nerve agent Novichok is arguing that the Inquest into her death should consider whether senior members of the Russian state were responsible.

Dawn Sturgess died after spraying herself with Novichok from a perfume bottle that her boyfriend Charlie Rowley had given her, unaware that it contained the nerve agent.

David Ridley, the Senior Coroner for Wiltshire has ruled that while the inquest he is conducting into her death can examine the actions of two Russian agents thought to have been responsible for using the Novichok, it should not look at the actions of other Russians...

...or the Russian state, nor at the where the nerve agent came from, as these are outside the scope of the inquest, the evidence is overseas, and Dawn Sturgess was not the target of the attempted assassination.

But lawyers acting for Dawn Sturgess’ young daughter, referred to in this case as GS because of her young age, are arguing that the Senior Coroner’s decision was wrong.

In his submissions Michael Mansfield QC said “The use of Novichok in Salisbury was the first aggressive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War. It put hundreds of members of the British public at risk and killed Ms Sturgess."

"The issue of who was responsible for it is a matter of almost unparalleled public concern.”

“There is a compelling public interest in this inquest investigating what responsibility the Russian state had for Ms Sturgess’ death.”

Police believe that two Russian men, using the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, brought the Novichok to Wiltshire in an attempt to assassinate the former agent Sergei Skripal.

He and his daughter Yulia Skripal both ended up in intensive care in Salisbury but survived. But a perfume bottle containing Novichok was found by Charlie Rowley, who gave it to Dawn Sturgess. She died after spraying herself with the nerve agent.

The decontamination of Salisbury and nearby Amesbury cost around £300m and took nearly a year to complete

Michael Mansfield QC said of the two men who deployed the nerve agent “They may have not cared or known where else it would travel,” and....

“there is no way this was carried out by just these two.”

“It is unreal to expect the questioning to stop with the movement of the two men and the contributions they made.”

“The British public are entitled to have the questions asked, and to have the questions answered.”

Lawyers for the Home Secretary are arguing that the Coroner’s decision to limit the scope of the inquest was correct.

The hearing is due to end on Wednesday. It is being conducted virtually, with all participants, including the two judges appearing on a video call.