Sergei Skripal told friends Putin would 'get him'

Sergei Skripal was one of three people who survived coming into contact with the Novichok nerve agent

Sergei Skripal told a friend that President Vladimir Putin would "get him" if he returned to Russia, an inquiry heard.

Ross Cassidy also told the inquiry in London on Monday that Mr Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer, said he could not return to Russia or there would be "reprisals".

The inquiry is examining how Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she was exposed to the chemical weapon Novichok in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018.

Mr Cassidy said Mr Skripal "did say he knew Russian leader Putin personally and said Putin would get him".

Dawn Sturgess died after being inadvertently exposed to Novichok

In March 2018 Mr Skripal, his daughter Yulia and then-police officer Nick Bailey were poisoned in Salisbury after being exposed to Novichok. They all survived.

Months later, Ms Sturgess' boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, unwittingly gave her the bottle containing the nerve agent, which led to her death.

Mr Cassidy told the hearing how he and Mr Skripal had quickly become "good friends" after he moved in next door with his family in 2010.

The pair used to discuss Mr Skripal's time in the military.

Mr Cassidy said: "Sergey did say he could not go back to Russia or there would be 'reprisals'. He would not go into much details about what this was all about, but did say he knew Russian leader Putin personally and said Putin would 'get him'.

"They were all from separate occasions but, yes, he did talk about reprisals.

"But I remember it specifically when he said about Putin will get him."

Mr Cassidy explained how Mr Skripal had talked about this to his friends at a gathering.

He said that, prior to giving evidence at the inquiry, he had checked with those friends, asking them "he did say that, didn't he?" and they had confirmed it.

Mr Cassidy told the inquiry that he and his wife had later googled Mr Skripal and discovered his spying activities.

He also said that on the way home from picking Mr Skripal's daughter up from Heathrow Airport with him - the day before they poisoned - he believed he was followed by an undercover police car.

Mr Cassidy said he first passed what he believed to be a white unmarked police car and slowed down as he was over the speed limit and then noticed the black BMW keeping pace, either in front or behind him, "for a really long distance".

He told the inquiry: "Because of what happened the following day, I put two and two together and came up with some conclusion that we were probably being followed."

Later, Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, told the inquiry that the two vehicles had been identified as Hampshire Police patrols.

He added he was satisfied that they were engaged in "entirely unconnected" police matters at the time.

The inquiry, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Lord Hughes of Ombersley, opened at the Guildhall in Salisbury earlier this month but started hearing evidence in London on Monday.

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