Briton leaves hospital after Novichok poison attack

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Charlie Rowley, one of two Britons poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok last month, was released from the hospital on Friday, as investigations continued into how he and his partner came into contact with the deadly substance.

Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, collapsed at his house in Amesbury, southwest England on June 30.

This was close to where ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were attacked with the same substance in March.

Both have since recovered but Sturgess died on July 8 and her death is being treated as murder.

"I am pleased to confirm that earlier today, Charlie Rowley was discharged from hospital,” Lorna Wilkinson, director of nursing at Salisbury District Hospital, said in a statement.

“Charlie has been through an appalling experience most of us could never imagine."

Wilkinson added it was a "day tinged with sadness for everyone" as they remembered Sturgess.

Police say the source of the Novichok which killed her was a small bottle they found in Rowley's house, and more than 400 items have been recovered as part of the murder investigation.

Paul Cosford of Public Health England said however it was safe for Rowley to leave hospital.

"Mr. Rowley's discharge creates no risk to anyone in the community," he said in a statement.

Britain blamed Russia for the poisoning of the Skripals but the Kremlin has denied involvement and the incident sparked mass tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions as relations between the countries soured.

(Top picture: Police stand guard on a cordon outside the John Baker House Sanctuary Supported Living in Salisbury on July 9, 2018, in Wiltshire, England. /VCG Photo)

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters