Crime Next Door

As Salisbury starts to reopen in the summer of 2018, the authorities weigh up how to keep the public safe, when they know there could be more Novichok out there. Questions are asked about whether enough was done to protect people from accidentally picking up a discarded chemical weapon.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

Two Russian men visit Salisbury just as the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a nerve agent. They say they simply wanted to see the famous cathedral spire, but that’s not the view of the UK authorities who believe they came to kill. In this episode we learn more about the men, their movements and their real identities. Plus, we learn more about the Russian intelligence agencies from writer and historian Mark Galeotti.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

Audio credit: JJ Extra, Salisbury Museum, ViaTravelers and British Pathe.

When Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned with a nerve agent, police faced one of the most complex investigations in their history. They had to trace a weapon which they could neither see nor smell, but it could kill thousands. In this episode, we hear how they checked everything from coins to car keys in the hunt to find the source of the poisoning.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

When Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley were taken to hospital, the emergency services tried to piece together what had happened to them. We hear how they questioned whether it was a coincidence that they had treated two people for nerve agent poisoning four months earlier or whether the events could be connected. And we find out about Porton Down, the UK government’s secretive laboratory which identified the Novichok and speak to a former military officer who has been inside.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

One of the first police officers to go inside Sergei and Yulia Skripal’s house after they were poisoned with a nerve agent was Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey. He then became critically ill himself, after touching the front door handle. It had been smeared with the deadly chemical. He relives the events of 2018, which would change his life forever.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

When the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed on a bench in Salisbury, it was Sunday shoppers who first stepped in to help. Amazingly, two of them were highly qualified medics. We hear their stories. Also, how the consultants at Salisbury District Hospital realised these were no ordinary patients.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

Who is Sergei Skripal? The former Russian spy was poisoned by Novichok in March 2018, but until now very little has been known about him, his life in England, and his mysterious past.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

An in-depth interview with the Head of Counter Terror Policing at the time of the poisonings, Neil Basu. He relives how dangerous the investigation was for the officers involved, what it took to find the suspects, and 6 years on, how he feels about Dawn Sturgess’ death.

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

Andrea Sella, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at University College London, answers the big questions about Novichok. The deadly nerve agent killed Dawn Sturgess and poisoned many more in Salisbury and Amesbury in 2018. What is it, when was it developed, and what does it do to our bodies?

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.

As the inquiry prepares to move from Salisbury to London, Andy Howard and Marie Lennon review a momentous week of evidence, which saw the emergency services interrogated and the communication between them questioned.

Dawn's family ask for President Putin to appear at the inquiry in person to answer questions about her death and the Russian Ambassador to the UK gives his response.

Focus turns to the protection given to Sergei Skripal; should he have been living in the UK under his own name without surveillance?

This episode was made by Marie Lennon, Andy Howard, Tom Ryan & Dan O’Brien.

Executive production by Mary Sanders and Naomi Wordley.