Friend of Amesbury 'poisoning' victim tells how man was 'dribbling and hallucinating' when taken to hospital

Sam Hobson, aged 29, talks to television crews outside Amesbury Baptist Church, after describing himself as a friend of the two people who were hospitalised
REUTERS

A friend of one of the people found unconscious in Amesbury, Wiltshire, has described how one of the victims was rushed to hospital "dribbling and hallucinating."

Sam Hobson, 29, a friend of the victims who were named locally as Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, said Mr Rowley was sober but "in another world" when taken to hospital.

He said: “Charlie was dribbling and was rocking backwards and forwards. He was in another world, he was hallucinating.

'He wasn't high or anything. He was stone cold sober. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. I called the ambulance and they took him away.”

Sam Hobson said his friend was "dribbling" and "hallucinating"
REUTERS

Mr Rowley was found collapsed alongside Ms Sturgess in a flat several miles from where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in a Russian nerve agent plot which sparked a major international dispute.

A police officer stands in front of Amesbury Baptist Church, which has been cordoned off
REUTERS

The couple, in their forties, are fighting for life in intensive care at Salisbury District Hospital. Police initially believed they may have been made ill by a contaminated batch of drugs such as heroin or crack cocaine.

“However, further testing is now on-going to establish the substance which led to these patients becoming ill,” a Wiltshire police spokesman said. A “major incident” has been declared.

Amesbury is eight miles from Salisbury, where former double agent Mr Skripal, 67, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were poisoned with a military-grade Russian-created nerve agent in March. The Government accused Russia of being behind the attack.

A number of locations in Amesbury and Salisbury which the couple are thought to have visited in recent days have been cordoned off.

Police said it was not yet clear if they were victims of a crime but detectives were said to be keeping an “open mind”.

A senior Whitehall source told the Standard the case was being treated seriously. “We do not yet have enough information to point us definitively one way or the other,” said the source. “The Government is being kept updated.”

Police officers stand outside Boots pharmacy, near to the Barcroft Medical Centre in Amesbury, Wiltshire
PA

Porton Down, the military laboratory that identified the Novichok nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack, is understood to be in contact with the investigation. Early indications are that the two victims were poisoned, but the substance has not been identified and police have not ruled out accidental exposure to an everyday chemical or something in the environment.

A Government spokesman said ministers were being kept informed. Public Health England said it did not believe there was a “significant health risk” to the wider public although its advice was being reviewed. Salisbury District Hospital was “open as usual”.

The couple were found unconscious at a new-build property in Muggleton Road on the southern edge of the town. Images from the scene showed a police presence, while a nearby Baptist church appeared to have been cordoned off.

Police activity outside a block of flats on Muggleton Road in Amesbury, Wiltshire, where a major incident has been declared
PA

Neighbour Justin Doughty said: “None of us is being told anything by the police. I know the people that live there in passing and they seem alright.”

Sergei Skripal, who was a double agent for UK intelligence, settled in the UK in 2010 as part of a spy swap. He and his daughter were found unconscious on March 4 after collapsing on a bench in Salisbury city centre. They spent weeks in hospital. Russia denied involvement in the poisoning.

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