Amesbury novichok incident: Dawn Sturgess's 11-year-old daughter makes heartbreaking speech at Salisbury funeral
'She just said how much she loved her mum and how much her mum had loved her'
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Your support makes all the difference.The 11-year-old daughter of novichok victim Dawn Sturgess told mourners how much she loved her mother at an emotional funeral held a month after she was poisoned with the nerve agent.
Rev Philip Bromiley who led the service, said she said a few words after Ms Sturgess’s sister gave an “extremely moving” eulogy at the packed service at Salisbury Crematorium.
“She just said how much she loved her mum and how much her mum had loved her, and really got to the very nerve of what it must be like to lose your own mother,” he said. "It's an awful thing but she was so strong. The tragic and suddenness of her death was reflected in many of the thoughts and hearts of the public gathered there."
He added that Charlie Rowley, who believes he accidentally gave Ms Sturgess the nerve agent in the belief it was perfume, "was sat on the front row, obviously very emotional."
"It was lovely to see him there and I'm really hoping that the service will have given him a healing that he will doubtless need to have in the days and months to come," he said.
Ms Sturgess, also had two adult sons aged 19 and 23, and was remembered by her family as a “gentle soul who was generous to a fault”.
In a tribute released after she died in hospital on 8 July, her family said: “She would do anything for anybody and those who knew Dawn would know that she would gladly give her last penny to somebody in need.
“She had the biggest of hearts and she will be dreadfully missed by both her immediate and wider family.”
Members of the media were asked not to attend the funeral, which followed safety precautions overseen by Public Health England.
Ms Sturgess's coffin, adorned with floral tributes, was taken into the chapel by pallbearers ahead of the service to give her family some time alone.
Speaking afterwards, Rev Bromiley said: “There was a sense of celebration that we wanted to celebrate Dawn's life. As you can imagine there was a lot of mixed emotions and there was obviously still shock, and people were tremendously tearful having lost a loved one, and yet there was a bit of upbeat spirit to make sure that Dawn had the kind of send-off that they would have wanted.
“We ended the service with Fame - 'I'm going to live forever' - which is a great message for any funeral service to have. It summed her up because she was known for dancing to things."
Among other music played at the service was James Blunt song "Beautiful Dawn" and the hymn "Shalom Shalom".
An inquest into Ms Sturgess’s death has been adjourned to January, as a police murder investigation continues alongside searches and decontamination work in Salisbury and Amesbury.
The leading line of inquiry is that she and Mr Rowley fell ill after unwittingly coming into contact with novichok dumped in Salisbury by the people who poisoned Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March.
The couple collapsed at Mr Rowley’s home in Amesbury on 30 June and a major incident was declared days later after medics raised the alarm over their symptoms and sent samples for tests.
Mr Rowley has said the nerve agent took just 15 minutes to poison Ms Sturgess after she sprayed the “oily” substance on to her wrists, while he got some on his hands but quickly washed it off.
The 45-year-old was initially in a critical condition but was discharged from Salisbury District Hospital on 20 July.
The hospital also successfully treated Mr Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter after they were poisoned with novichok smeared on his front door in June.
Police believe they have identified the suspected perpetrators, who are Russian and have since left the country.
Sources told The Independent the potential culprits had been narrowed down to between two and four people, including a woman, who may be linked to the Russian GRU intelligence service – where Mr Skripal worked before turning for MI6.
The Russian government has denied involvement in either poisoning after the British government accused it of using the UK as a “dumping ground for poison”.
Investigators recovered a “small glass bottle” that contained novichok at Mr Rowley’s home and have reopened the supported housing where Ms Sturgess lived after finding no contamination.
Police were to visit a branch of Boots in Amesbury that Mr Rowley visited shortly after his partner fell ill to collect CCTV, after carrying out fingertip searches at Salisbury’s Queen Elizabeth Gardens.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which verified the use of novichok in March, sent investigators back to Britain to collect fresh samples for testing.
They are currently being analysed at designated international laboratories and the results are expected within weeks.
Public Health England’s advice states that the wider risk to the public remains low but urges local residents not to pick up any unknown items “such as syringes, needles, cosmetics or similar objects made of materials such as metal, plastic or glass”.
Additional reporting by Press Association