Salisbury novichok attack: Poisoned police officer Nick Bailey returns to active duty

A police officer who was left fighting for his life after the Salisbury nerve agent attack has returned to active duty.

Detective sergeant Nick Bailey is believed to have come into contact with novichok while searching the home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in March 2018.

Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were left critically ill after coming into contact with the substance on 5 March while Mr Bailey was also rushed to hospital.

Two Russian nationals have been accused of travelling to the UK to try to murder Mr Skripal with the nerve agent.

DS Bailey went to A&E and was initially discharged - but returned when his condition worsened.

Wiltshire Police confirmed that the father-of-two has now returned to work.

"He's doing very well and we look forward to working with him," Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Angus Macpherson told the BBC. "He's making a good recovery - but I suspect the mental recovery will be longer, as it would for any of us who were exposed to something as horrific as that."

"He will be given all the support he needs."

After the police officer was discharged on 22 March he said his life would 'never be the same again'.

DS Bailey's return to work comes as the Skripals' home in Salisbury is set to be dismantled, as decontamination work continues in the cathedral city.

The Skripals survived the nerve agent attack but another woman Dawn Sturgess fell ill in Amesbury months after the incident.

She died in hospital in July, after coming into contact with a perfume bottle believed to have been used in the attack on the Skripals and then discarded.

Her partner, Charlie Rowley, 45, was also exposed to the same nerve agent but was treated and discharged.

Theresa May has previously said that the attack on the Skripals had "almost certainly" been approved by the Russian state.

Evidence gathered by intelligence agencies led the Government to conclude that the men were officers from the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU.

The two suspects - known by their aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - were caught on CCTV in Salisbury the day before the attack.

Additional reporting by agencies