Lawyers call on UK government to confirm Skripal was a spy

The British government has heard a fresh call to confirm that Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned by a Russian nerve agent in UK's Salisbury back in 2018, was a spy working for the British intelligence.

The demand came at a public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who died after coming into contact with Novichok, a nerve agent developed at a state chemical-research institute in Russia.

Lawyers for Sturgess's family say the link had already been widely reported by the media. However, the UK government says such confirmation could put people at risk.

Sturgess died in hospital on July 8, 2018 after she was exposed to Novichok, which had been stored in a discarded perfume bottle found by her husband and given to her as a gift.

It followed the attempted murders of Skripal, his daughter Yulia, and ex-police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in Salisbury earlier that year in March.

The two are said to have started a new life in New Zealand with new identities.