The judge leading the hearing into the notorious attack has also ruled that former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 73, and his daughter Yulia, 39, must not give evidence remotely.
The targets of the Salisbury poisonings will not be called to give evidence at the forthcoming public inquiry over fears Russian spies would attack them again.
Russian assassins targeted the Skripals in March 2018, smearing the deadly nerve agent novichok on the doorknob of the front door of their house in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Police believe the two GRU officers had thrown it away near the Skripals’ house, with 44-year-old Ms Sturgess’s partner, Charlie Rowley, picking it up and taking it home.
But Lord Hughes ruled that the risk to the Skripals – who are living under police protection – was too great. He said: ‘The overwhelming risk is of physical attack on one or both the Skripals. An attack similar to that which appears to have taken place in 2018 remains a real risk.’ Official documents also reveal the inquiry’s opening was delayed as Government lawyers warned Lord Hughes that Putin’s spies could hack the court’s IT system and create a hit-list. They said even if sensitive names were not disclosed to the public, Kremlin hackers would infiltrate the inquiry’s IT platform, Relativity, to steal the names.
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