Dawn Sturgess was a British mother of three born on June 18, 1974, who died at age 44 on July 8, 2018, after exposure to the nerve agent Novichok.[1][2][4] She had no notable public roles or career achievements documented beyond her personal life as a resident of Amesbury, Wiltshire, where she lived with her partner, Charlie Rowley.[2][3] In early July 2018, Rowley found a discarded perfume bottle containing Novichok and gave it to Sturgess, who sprayed it on herself, leading to her collapse in their flat.[2][3][6] Rowley was also poisoned but survived after hospital treatment, while the bottle held enough agent to kill thousands.[2] This incident occurred four months after the March 2018 Novichok poisoning attempt on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in nearby Salisbury, an attack linked to Russian military intelligence.[2] Sturgess became the only confirmed fatality from Novichok exposure in the UK, described as an innocent civilian casualty of geopolitical tensions.[3][5] A public inquiry, concluded by late 2025, confirmed her death resulted from the nerve agent in the perfume and held Russian President Vladimir Putin morally responsible, citing state involvement in the Skripal operation.[2][6][7] Her case drew international attention, highlighting risks to bystanders from state-sponsored assassinations and prompting calls for accountability.[1][5] The inquiry's findings, including the agent's potency—eight to ten times stronger than U.S. equivalents—underscored the incident's severity.[2] Sturgess's story has been featured in media, such as BBC dramas, to address related social issues like homelessness stigma.[5]