Novichok victim Charlie Rowley back in hospital after ‘going blind’

Novichok nerve agent survivor Charlie Rowley has been re-admitted to hospital after going blind, according to reports.

Rowley, who is 45, was rushed to Salisbury General Hospital on Saturday and is understood to be in intensive care following a loss of vision, Sky News says.

Although the hospital said it could not comment on individual cases, it insisted it was not treating anyone for the effects of novichok poisoning at the moment. This suggests that Rowley’s current condition is not linked to the nerve agent that almost killed him in June.

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Rowley and his girlfriend, Dawn Sturgess, 46, were poisoned with the same nerve agent used in a targeted attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in March.

Sturgess died on 8 July after the pair were found unconscious at Rowley’s home in nearby Amesbury. The two had reportedly been exposed to the nerve agent after Sturgess found and used a bottle of perfume believed to contain the toxic substance.

Anti-terror police have recently launched a murder probe over her death. Meanwhile the government is preparing to request the extradition of two Russians suspected of carrying out the attack, The Guardian reports.

Rowley’s brother Matthew, 47, told The Sun: “I have spoken to him and he went temporarily blind and couldn’t see anything.”

A friend added: “We are all worried for Charlie. He’s had it tough with the poisoning and losing Dawn. He was in a bad way and so dialled 999.”

It comes as Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is due to urge European leaders to impose further sanctions on Russia over its “malign” behaviour. Hunt is making his first visit to the US in his new ministerial role and wants Europe to replicate America's “comprehensive” response to the nerve agent attack.