Nick Bailey’s attorneys said he continued to suffer from the poisoning wound for more than four years and filed a bodily injury claim against Wiltshire police. Bailey was the first person to enter Scripal’s home in March 2018 after poisoning his former spy and daughter, Julia, and spent 17 days in hospital. Patrick Maguire, a lawyer for Horwich Cohen Coghlan representing Bailey, said in a statement on Tuesday: “Life has never been the same since that day in 2018 for Nick and it seems like a huge step forward in terms of is about achieving some level of closure. Although the last four years have been incredibly demanding for our client, we are all pleased that we have finally succeeded in this arrangement. Nick is proud and has the privilege of serving in the police and that will never change. “On behalf of Nick and his family, we would like to thank the audience from all over the world who supported him as well as his friends, former colleagues and especially his family.” Maguire said the terms of the settlement would remain confidential, but confirmed that the dispute was over. He added: “All the issues related to this case have had a significant impact, not only on our client and his family, but on the nation as a whole.” The settlement means Bailey’s legal team will reject calls for potentially sensitive documents, such as handwritten notes made during a police response. Sergei and Julia Skripal survived the attack, but a few months later Dawn Sturgess, 44, and her partner Charlie Rowley were poisoned in Amesbury, eight miles north of Salisbury, after finding a fake bottle of perfume containing novichok. Rowley recovered but Sterges died on July 8 of that year. A public inquiry into the circumstances of Sturgess’s death has begun, but no date has been set for the first substantive hearings. Bailey left Wiltshire police in October 2020 after 18 years, saying he “could not cope with being in a police environment.” Speaking at a Wiltshire college podcast last year, Bailey said he felt “overwhelmingly guilty” after his family was forced to leave their home because he had contracted the nerve agent. He said: “I remember feeling pure panic and fear of the unknown because I was poisoned by this nerve agent and you just do not know where it will end up. “There was a lot of fear and a lot of guilt because later, while I was in the hospital, my family was told they had to leave our house because I had accidentally taken the nerve agent back and contaminated the house.”
