How to look for records of... Records of the Dawn Sturgess (Lord Hughes) Independent Inquiry
How can I view the records covered in this guide?
How many are online?
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Contents
- 1. Why use this guide?
- 2. Where to go for further support, if you have been affected by the content of these records
- 3. The Independent Inquiry
- 4. What are these records?
- 5. Supporting sensitivity and transparency
- 6. How to access records held at The National Archives
- 7. Independent inquiry report
- 8. Other sources
1. Why use this guide?
This guide sets out the context for records of the Dawn Sturgess (Lord Hughes) Independent Inquiry that are held by The National Archives. This guide also touches on relevant records that are preserved by the wider archive sector.
The focus for this guide is the records of the Inquiry that have been transferred to The National Archives having been selected by the Inquiry Chair in line with The National Archives’ Records Collection Policy. The records have been transferred to The National Archives in line with the Inquiries Act 2005, the Inquiry Rules 2006, and the Public Records Act 1958. They have been managed in line with current information rights legislation.
2. Where to go for further support, if you have been affected by the content of these records
Records from the Dawn Sturgess (Lord Hughes) Independent Inquiry include content that some people may find distressing. If you have been affected by these records, you can find useful advice on looking after your mental health and wellbeing on the NHS Every Mind Matters website and from the mental health charity Mind.
3. The Independent Inquiry
Dawn Sturgess was pronounced dead at Salisbury district hospital on 8 July 2018. The postmortem had indicated the cause of her death as being Novichok poisoning.
On 19 July 2018, an inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess was opened and adjourned/suspended by HM Senior Coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, David Ridley. The Rt Hon Heather Hallett DBE was nominated and appointed to conduct the Inquest in January 2021.
The Inquest was suspended upon the establishment of the public inquiry. Converting to a statutory inquiry allowed closed evidence to be considered at closed hearings with most Core Participants as well as the public and press excluded.
The Dawn Sturgess Independent Inquiry was set up under the Inquiries Act, 2005 and was announced by the then Home Secretary, Priti Patel, on 18 November 2021. The Rt Hon Lord Hughes of Ombersley chaired the Independent Inquiry. The terms of reference ensured that the investigations which had already been conducted as part of the Inquest, could be considered as part of the Inquiry.
The Terms of Reference can be found here The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry – Inquiry into 2018 Salisbury poisonings.
The Inquiry was formally established on 17 March 2022 and began hearing evidence on 14 October 2024 in Salisbury before moving to London.
The Inquiry report was published on 4th December 2025, see Report – The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry.
4. What are these records?
Under the Inquiry Rules 2006 the Chair of the Inquiry has a duty to transfer custody of the Inquiry record to a government department or to the appropriate public record office, in this case The National Archives.
On the recommendation of the Chair, all OPEN evidence adduced in open public hearings and the published report (also available on Gov.uk website) has been transferred to The National Archives for permanent preservation.
The circumstances surrounding the death of Dawn Sturgess were such that it was necessary to hold a portion of the Inquiry’s proceedings in closed hearings in order to protect individuals connected with the case, national security, and policing methodologies. Consequently, at the close of the Inquiry, only those documents adduced during open hearings were transferred to The National Archives. Of these, around 35% contain redactions of personal data, or information that is closed under the Inquiry’s Restriction Order and is not being transferred to The National Archives.
Evidence adduced during closed hearings has also been selected for permanent preservation at The National Archives but remained classified. All closed evidence is held by the Home Office and will be managed until such time as it can be transferred.
The records of the Dawn Sturgess Independent Inquiry have been through the process of appraisal, selection, and sensitivity review before being transferred to The National Archives for permanent preservation in line with the Inquiries Act 2005, the Inquiry Rules 2006 and following the direction and wishes of the Inquiry Chair.
Some of the evidence received by the Inquiry pre-dates the establishment of the Inquiry itself. Where physical documents were scanned and provided to the Inquiry in digital format, the dates reflect the dates of the original records.
Evidence records were managed within a document management system. Each document was given a unique reference number to assist the Inquiry with identifying the source material. Reports, transcripts, and records of public hearings may use these numbers to refer to the evidence records.
5. Supporting sensitivity and transparency
As part of preparing its records for transfer to The National Archives, the Dawn Sturgess Independent Inquiry has undertaken a comprehensive review of the content of each record to ensure they are managed in line with information rights legislation. The inquiry has transferred to The National Archives upon close-down of the inquiry all OPEN access evidence.
Because of the potentially distressing nature of some of these records, we have added an advisory note to the relevant online series descriptions and at individual records/pieces.
6. How to access records held at The National Archives
The OPEN evidence records of the Dawn Sturgess Independent Inquiry can be accessed using The National Archives’ online catalogue. The records of the inquiry are held in digital format and are available online.
The National Archives’ online catalogue will indicate the format of the record. If you need further help using our catalogue, please consult Discovery help.
The Dawn Sturgess Independent Inquiry records are catalogued within the following series:
Records created by the Independent Inquiry into the circumstances of Dawn Sturgess’ death in Salisbury on 8 July 2018.
7. Independent inquiry report
The Dawn Sturgess Independent Inquiry report was published on 4th December 2025. See Report – The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry.
8. Other sources
We have provided links to other relevant local authorities archives and search facilities, where further information on local projects as well as records that are preserved by the wider archive sector can be found. This list is not exhaustive. A directory of UK archive services can be found on The National Archives website.
