A police officer has publicly apologized for wrongly labeling Dawn Sturgess, a Novichok victim who died in 2018, as a ‘well-known drug addict.’ Temporary Superintendent Kerry Lawes admitted to the inquiry into Sturgess’s death that there was no evidence supporting this claim. The inquiry also revealed that Sturgess was exposed to the nerve agent from a discarded perfume bottle, a scenario initially misinterpreted by authorities as a drug overdose. Lawes acknowledged her unprofessional comments and stated she always acted in good faith based on the information available at the time.