Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal have been told they will not give evidence at a public inquiry next month after concerns were raised for their safety(Image: Collect Unknown)

Salisbury poisoning targets will not give evidence for fear of repeat attack

Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 73, and his daughter Yulia, 39, have also been told they must not give evidence remotely as Putin's agents could work out their location.

by · The Mirror

The targets of the Salisbury Novichok poisonings will not give evidence during a public inquiry - over fears Russian spies would attack them again.

Double agent Sergei Skripal, 73, and his daughter Yulia, 39, have also been told they must not give evidence remotely as Vladimir Putin's agents could work out their location. Lord Hughes of Ombersley, who is leading the inquiry, ruled video and audio of the Skripals being interviewed by police must not be played as the footage could be used to identify them now.

The Mail on Sunday also revealed documents containing sensitive information will be redacted before they are entered into the inquiry's IT system. It comes amid fears the Kremlin could otherwise hack the files to create a hit-list of MI5 and MI6 officers and counter-terrorism detectives.

The Novichok attacks in September 2018 sparked a huge decontamination operation as experts tried to trace the origins of the nerve agent( Image: PA)

Russian assassins targeted the Skripals in March 2018, smearing the deadly nerve agent novichok on the doorknob of the front door of their house in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Although the father and daughter survived, mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess died after she sprayed the chemical on her hands and face. She used the toxic substance thinking it was perfume inside a Nina Ricci Premier Jour bottle.

Police believe the two GRU (military intelligence) officers had thrown it away near the Skripals' house, with 44-year-old Ms Sturgess's partner, Charlie Rowley, picking it up and taking it home. More than six years after the death of Ms Sturgess, who struggled with alcohol addiction, the judge-led inquiry will begin at Salisbury Guildhall next month.

The family of Ms Sturgess wanted the Skripals to give evidence in person to answer their questions. But Lord Hughes ruled that the risk to the Skripals - who are living under police protection - was too great. According to the MoS, he said: "The overwhelming risk is of physical attack on one or both the Skripals. An attack similar to that which appears to have taken place in 2018 remains a real risk."

GRU agents Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are wanted by British police in connection with the nerve agent attack in Salisbury( Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The judge said the pair giving evidence remotely was risky as their "integrated security arrangements could not be maintained". Even if they delivered testimony from a secure location via an "electronic link immune to interception", taking them to and from it was a risk, he said. Three GRU operatives, using the names Sergei Fedotov, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, were accused of attempted murder after the attack.