The British government has ordered to keep secret some documents of the investigation into the death of a woman killed by “Novachka” after the assassination attempt on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in 2018, Reuters reports.

Don Sturges, a collateral victim of the “Rookie” attack on Skripal

Dawn Sturges died from exposure to Novitzik in July 2018 after her partner found a bottle of fake perfume that British police believe was used by Russian secret agents to smuggle the poison into the country.

Skripal, who sold Russian secrets to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury four months ago.

They and the policeman who came to Skripal’s home were hospitalized in critical condition due to exposure to the neurotoxin, but later recovered.

While British police have charged three Russians, who they say are GRU military intelligence officers, in absentia with the attack on Skripal and his daughter, no charges have been brought against them in the death of the elderly Sturgess for 44 years.

The inquest into her death was changed to a public inquest to allow highly confidential information from the police and security services to be considered.

Britain says the attempt on Skripal’s life was ordered by Russian statesmen, and the incident sparked the biggest diplomatic push from East to West since the Cold War.

Russia denies any involvement, saying the allegations are anti-Russian propaganda.

The head of the inquiry, former High Court judge Anthony Hughes, said his inquiry would examine the evidence on which Britain’s claims were based.

“It is vitally important that no information be released that could assist an enemy state.”

At an earlier hearing on Friday, his lawyer Andrew O’Connor said the then home secretary had taken the “extraordinary step” of signing a Restriction Notice in August to keep an “extremely small proportion” of government information secret.

According to O’Connor, the decision about what should be kept secret is usually made by the head of the investigation.

Currently, the investigation is generally looking at what information is relevant and what information can be released or disclosed to the Sturgess family prior to the merits hearing.

Catherine McGahey, a lawyer for the government, said it was vital that no information was revealed that could help a hostile state or terrorists launch another attack, saying it was a slow process to ensure that.

A date has yet to be set for the full inquest, but Hughes agreed on Friday that it would start in Salisbury and then move to London.

• One of the attackers in Salisbury is actually a GRU officer trained in an elite special forces unit. The story of Colonel Chepiga, who received the title of Hero of the Russian Federation from Putin
• The identity of the second suspect in the Skripal case has been made public / He is a doctor from the dreaded GRU special service of the Russian army (press)