More now from Dawn Sturgess' mother Caroline.

As we just reported, Dawn had moved into supported accommodation for those at risk of homelessness in the later part of her life.

"The narrative that had been set for Dawn on social media and in the press was extremely distressing to everyone who personally knew her," Caroline says.

"She was not a ‘known drug user’, as had initially been reported and then repeated."

Caroline says Dawn was a "very loved mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, auntie, niece, cousin and friend".

Caroline is also reading a statement written by Dawn's daughter.

"Me and my mum had a bond that I would never forget," it says.

"The day I heard she had fallen really ill was heartbreaking to hear. In my mind, I thought she would push through it, because there was nothing my mum couldn't handle.

"One thing that I will never forget was due to my age, I never got to see her, or got to say my goodbyes."

We're first hearing from Caroline Sturgess, Dawn Sturgess' mother.

She's reading from a prepared statement, describing to the inquiry what her daughter was like. A photo of Dawn is shown during the reading.

Dawn was the eldest of four, and the mother of three. She would have been a grandmother now, Caroline says, but will never have the "joy" of meeting her grandchild.

"She was an intelligent, funny, extremely selfless and very kind person," she says.

Dawn "strived to make others happy, even when she didn't feel like smiling herself," Caroline adds.

She was raised in a "normal, loving" family.

In the later part of her life, Dawn moved into supported accommodation, and her mother says Dawn's main priority was the "welfare of her children."

Caroline says Dawn would always greet her daughter on visits "with her arms out".

The inquiry has just begun its second day of hearings.

As a reminder, you can click the Watch Live button at the top of this page to watch proceedings. The feed is on a 10-minute delay, for security reasons.

Stay tuned - we will bring you the key lines and analysis.

Today we expect to hear from Dawn's mother, Caroline Sturgess, who will give evidence to the public inquiry.

She will give what's described as a family "pen portrait" to outline the life of her daughter, who went on to make international headlines for tragic reasons. Mrs Sturgess is expected to talk about Dawn's journey from childhood to the devastation that hit the family when she died.

The inquiry is then due to hear from deputy chief constable of Wiltshire Police Paul Mills, whose career took a dramatic turn at the time of the poisonings.

The attack on the Skripals took place on Sunday 4 March, 2018. He was appointed to his role the following day, and became the overall commander for the operation to trace who was behind the poisoning.

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of the inquiry John Glen, the Conservative MP for Salisbury and South Wiltshire, said it's "difficult to understand what more information can be provided" from the hearing.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Mr Glen added there's "some questions about what happened between March and June" - between the Skripal and Sturgess poisonings.

"This is about trying to bring some closure, as far as one can, in these tragic circumstances... but we know in essence what happened and we've known that for a long time," he said.

It is a matter for lawyers whether or not the Russian's accused of the killings should be charged with murder in absentia, he added.

Here is the sequence of events that led to this public inquiry.

In March 2018, Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned with Novichok in Salisbury, effectively shutting down the city and sparking international outcry.

Then, as things were finally getting back to normal, Dawn Sturgess and her partner Charlie Rowley were exposed to the same nerve agent on 30 June 2018.

While Rowley survived, Sturgess passed away on 8 July 2018.

• A full timeline of the poisonings

Yesterday, the inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess began, as it seeks to establish responsibility and any lessons that can be learned from the poisoning.

Sturgess died in 2018, after using a perfume bottle that contained the nerve agent Novichok.

Here's what was established in Salisbury's Guildhall on Monday:

• The perfume that Dawn Sturgess used contained enough poison to "kill thousands", the inquiry was told
• Counsel to the inquiry, Andrew O'Connor KC, described Sturgess as an "innocent victim, in the crossfire of an illegal and outrageous assassination attempt"
• The family of Dawn Sturgess called for Putin to give evidence at the inquiry and look the "family in the eyes"
• The inquiry was shown the movements of two Russian spies - Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - around Salisbury when the Skripal's were poisoned
• Sergei and Yulia Skripal will not appear at the inquiry, but yesterday Sergei's latest witness statement was read by a lawyer
• In it, Skirpal said President Putin “must have at least given permission for the attack”

Read our full article into the first day's proceedings for a more in depth look at the case.

Image source, Facebook

Welcome to our live coverage of the second day of the public inquiry into the death of Wiltshire woman Dawn Sturgess.

Sturgess was killed six years ago in a poisoning blamed on Russian agents.

The inquiry will examine the circumstances behind the Novichok attack in Salisbury in 2018, and try to establish where responsibility lies and highlight any lessons.

Tuesday’s session will begin at 10:00 BST. You can watch the inquiry by pressing the Watch Live button at the top of this page.

The first day of the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry is over.

We heard from various lawyers who outlined what the inquiry will cover for the next few months - including prevention, preparedness, and response.

Many of them expressed their condolences to the family of Dawn Sturgess, before beginning statements.

For more on this story, you can listen to the Crime Next Door: The Salisbury Poisonings podcast, which will follow the inquiry as it develops, or read more in our explainer of what happened to Dawn Sturgess.

This page was edited by Emma Hallett, Chris Kelly, James Harness and Jamie Whitehead.

Your writers were Imogen James, Dawn Limbu, Adam Goldsmith with analysis from Dan O'Brien at the inquiry.

Today we heard the opening statements of the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry - kicking off the next few months that will examine her death and how it was handled.

A large part of today focussed on the earlier poisoning of the Skripals, and the men accused of the incident, in order to understand the background behind the death of Dawn Sturgess.

Here's the key points:

• Representatives for Dawn Sturgess, Counter Terrorism Policing, the government and a statement from victim Sergei Skripal blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Novichok attacks
• Dawn Sturgess' family called for Putin himself to appear at the inquiry

• Counsel to the inquiry, Andrew O'Connor KC, described Sturgess as an "innocent victim, in the crossfire of an illegal and outrageous assassination attempt"
• He added that the nerve agent, that was found in a perfume bottle used by Sturgess, held enough to kill thousands
• The Skripal poisonings were also discussed at length. O'Connor said it was "not possible to inspect Dawn Sturgess' death properly, without understanding the Skripal poisoning"
• Michael Mansfield KC spoke for the Sturgess family. He says Wiltshire Police decided Sturgess and partner Charlie Rowley were suffering from drug overdoses, which had an effect on their medical treatment
• Charlie Rowley continues to suffer from long term injuries such as problems with his vision, balance and memory, says Adam Straw KC, representing the Sturgess family

Image source, Crown Copyright

Today’s final barrister is the lawyer representing Sergei and Yulia Skripal, Andrew Deakin KC.

Deakin begins by saying that the pair offer their condolences to Dawn Sturgess and her family.

The lawyer then thanks the emergency services on the Skripals’ behalf, before setting out some of the facts around how they came to be “attacked” by Novichok.

“They suffered serious injuries as a result”, he notes.

Deakin says: “Sergei and Yulia keenly await the outcome of this inquiry, they look forward to better understanding the circumstances of the Salisbury attack… And to being able to move on with their lives.”

The barrister finishes up his brief statement, and with that the inquiry adjourns until 10:00 BST tomorrow morning.

Image source, Crown Copyright

The inquiry has adjourned for the day, as the last of the opening statements have concluded.

Proceedings will resume tomorrow at 10:00 BST. Caroline Sturgess, Dawn's mother, will give evidence on day two of the inquiry.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you more updates and expert analysis.

Image source, Crown Copyright

Bridget Dolan KC is next to speak. She represents the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (Swaft).

Swaft is there "to be fully committed to your inquiry and to your terms of reference," she adds.

Dolan says they will be "open, constructive and honest" in the inquiry.

"We are acutely aware of the importance of this inquiry to Dawn's family," Dolan adds. She has spoken privately to Ms Sturgess' parents and apologises, but does so again in public.

"It's hard to imagine Sir, what it must feel like" for Ms Sturgess' family in the room now, Dolan says. "No family would want to be in a position to have to experience their loved one's death as the heart of a public inquiry."

"We do sincerely hope that you get all the answers that you want from this process."

In Amesbury, she says Swaft people continued to offer aid to Charlie Rowley despite having recognised the "extremely serious risk to themselves if as they correctly suspected Charlie had been exposed to military grade chemical weapon," she adds.

Since then, Swaft has reflected and reviewed the events, Dolan adds.

"Swaft is not complacent."

Dawn Limbu
Live reporter

Image source, Crown Copyright

John Beggs KC, counsel for the Wiltshire Police chief, speaks now. He begins his statement by repeating his sincere condolences to Dawn's family.

He outlines how this public inquiry will hear about Wiltshire Police's response to the the two incidents in Salisbury and Amesbury and the lessons learned.

Mr Beggs says Wiltshire Police has engaged in a "full debrief", facilitated by the College of Policing, to ensure they are best prepared to respond to a similar event in the future. He added that the force is "committed to giving the inquiry full assistance".

Image source, Crown Copyright

Wrapping up, McGahey tackles the issue of “hindsight”.

The barrister acknowledges that inquiries inevitably benefit from hindsight, but she stresses that this should not “unduly colour” the inquiry’s assessment of what steps could and should have been taken.

She finishes: “The government has done, and the government will continue to do everything it can to assist this inquiry and to help the family have as many answers as it can.”

Cathryn McGahey KC, counsel for the government, speaks now.

She says "the government believes that Ms Sturgess was the innocent and unintended victim of a cruel, deliberate and reckless attack on Sergei Skripal."

The government believes the attack was undertaken by the Russians, and President Putin authorised it, she re-iterates.

"Immediately after the attack, the government maintained an open mind as to who was responsible," McGahey says.

She says however, suspicions were derived as Skripal was a former Russian spy, and that Novichok is known to have been delivered by the Soviet Union.

"Within a week... the evidence led the then prime minister... to make the statement in parliament" - the statement blamed the Russian's for the poisoning.

She says in April 2018, the then national security adviser, Mark Sedwill, wrote to the NATO secretary general. In it, he identified three reasons why the UK thought Russia was responsible.

Sedwill outlines these as Novichok being something used and developed by the Russian federation, the country's record of state-sponsored assassination, and thirdly the target being a former Russian intelligence officer.

"There is no plausible alternative explanation," other than Russia being responsible, she cites Sedwill as writing.

Dawn Limbu
Live reporter

Ms Giovanetti continues to explain that the investigation into the poisonings in Salisbury and Amesbury in 2018 have resulted in charges against three suspects. They are all Russian nationals, linked to Russia's military intelligence agency known as the GRU.

The Russian suspects’ aliases are Alexander Petrov, Ruslan Boshirov and Sergey Fedotov. Their real identities are believed to be Anatoliy Chepiga, Alexander Mishkin and Denis Sergeev respectively.

Ms Giovanetti says the CTP considers that these three individuals are "responsible for death of Dawn and Charlie's poisoning".

On 19th July 2018, the CPS authorised charges against Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov for conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal, three counts of attempted murder in respect of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey, two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, in respect of Yulia Skripal and Nick Bailey, and one count of use or possession of a chemical weapon.

Ms Giovanetti says: "CTP considers that these three individuals are responsible for the subsequent death of Dawn Sturgess and the poisoning of her partner, Charlie Rowley.

"CTP will continue to work closely with partners, including the CPS, to hold these individuals accountable for their actions."

Giovannetti moves on to discuss the oral evidence that Operation Verbasco received.

The lawyer explains how her team received evidence from three different operations; one each for the poisonings of Sergei Skripal and another that began as a covert operation, and looked more broadly into who was responsible for the poisonings in Salisbury in 2018.

Then lists some of the witnesses that are due to give evidence on these operations.

One of these is commander Dominic Murphy, who she says will address matters including the poisoning of the Skripals, as well as how the response to this event was handled.

He will also address how Charlie was able to get hold of the bottle contaminated with Novichok, and the subsequent movements he made with Dawn before she fell ill.

We will also hear from Det Ch Insp Philip Murphy, who “will explain the circumstances and events around the poisoning of Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley".

Giovannetti says we will also hear from an expert on how the search for Novichok developed as news began to unfold of Dawn Sturgess’ poisoning.

We won’t be able to hear every single detail about these operations, though.

The barrister notes: “It is very likely that topics will arise in respect of which the witness might wish to give a fuller explanation or a more detailed explanation, but is unable to do so in open session because of the need to protect the public."

Image source, Crown Copyright

Lisa Giovannetti KC is first to speak after the break. She represents the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

They handle counter terrorism policing, who are closely involved into the investigations into the Novichok poisonings.

She begins by "reiterating the sincere condolences of both forces and all the officers involved" to the family of Dawn Sturgess.

She says they are "determined to bring to justice those responsible for her death".

Since the beginning of this inquiry on 18 November 2021, the operation has been expanded to "more than 40 officers" to get to this point.

The scale of the investigation into the poisonings is "difficult to overstate" she says, as it involves cooperation between police and partners "across government, and extensive enquiries both in the UK and internationally".

She says they have reviewed "documents with care" in preparation, but not all material has been put into open proceedings as it is too "sensitive".

Giovannetti says they have made as many documents open as possible.