Dawn Sturgess Inquiry report published

The Rt Hon Lord Hughes of Ombersley, a former Justice of the Supreme Court has now published his Inquiry report into the death of Dawn Sturgess. A link to the report can be found here.

Jason Beer KC, Francesca Whitelaw KC, Georgina Wolfe, Aaron Moss, John Goss and Edmund Gross were all instructed in the Inquiry.

Dawn Sturgess’ death in July 2018 was due to contamination by novichok, a chemical weapon. It followed an earlier attempt in March 2018 to use novichok to assassinate Sergei Skripal in Salisbury. The use of novichok in the UK caused a major international incident, leading to 153 Russian diplomats being expelled from 28 different countries. Three individuals who are believed to be officers of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, have been charged with serious criminal offences, but remain in Russia which refuses to extradite them.

Lord Hughes concluded that those involved in the assassination attempt of Sergei Skripal were morally responsible for Dawn Sturgess’ death.

Members of Chambers were instructed in the Inquiry as follows:

• Francesca Whitelaw KC was instructed as Counsel to the Inquiry;
• Jason Beer KC and John Goss were instructed by Counter Terrorism Policing South-East;
• Georgina Wolfe was instructed for the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who was representing His Majesty’s Government generally;
• Aaron Moss and Edmund Gross were instructed by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.

5 Essex Chambers is a specialist set for public inquiries and inquests, including those involving national security, terrorism, and policing. Members of chambers have appeared in all the significant national security inquests and inquiries in recent years, including the Southport Inquiry, the Afghanistan Inquiry, the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, the Jalal Uddin Inquiry, the Forbury Gardens Inquests, the Streatham Inquest, the Fishmongers’ Hall Inquests and the Manchester Arena Inquiry.