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Salisbury restaurant incident may have been a 'hoax'

Police have told the BBC that they are investigating the possibility that an incident in a Salisbury restaurant, which saw a major incident declared, may have been a hoax.

Alex King, 42, was admitted to hospital with his wife just months after a nerve agent incident claimed the life of Dawn Sturgess.

It has been reported that Mr King is a convicted criminal who once hoaxed Prince Charles.

Ms Shapiro
Ms Shapiro

Police sources told the BBC that until they speak to the couple, "we can't rule anything in or out".

Mr King's wife, Anna Shapiro, 30, told the Sun newspaper that the Russian state had poisoned her and her husband.

Tabloid claims

The tabloid claimed that security sources feared that the pair were involved in a "rat poison attack". The newspaper has since taken the article down from its website citing "legal reasons".

Wiltshire police have confirmed that the couple were not exposed to any nerve agents and were not linking the incident to the attacks on Salisbury and Amesbury. It is understood from health officials that the couple tested negative for any other poisons and have been declared "medically fit".

Ms Shapiro is a model and an Israeli citizen of Russian heritage.

In 2006 Mr King carried out a "prank" on Prince Charles at a film premiere where he inserted himself into a line-up of guests greeting the prince.

In 2004 Mr King pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children.

Britain and Russia have been involved in a diplomatic stand-off following the nerve agent attack. British intelligence believes that the two suspects who carried out that attack on the Skripals are GRU agents who were authorised by the Kremlin.