Salisbury Novichok-poisoned police officer 'fighting for pension'

A police officer who was poisoned in the Salisbury Novichok attack is "fighting for part of his pension", his wife has said.

Det Sgt Nick Bailey, who was contaminated with the nerve agent at the home of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, left Wiltshire Police in October.

His wife Sarah responded to comments by Wiltshire Police Federation's chairman about support her husband had received.

Wiltshire Police said it would be "inappropriate" to comment.

In the latest issue of the Police Federation of England and Wales magazine, Wiltshire chairman Mark Andrews wrote about how the force had supported officers affected by the Novichok attack in March 2018.

"We... helped Nick to get the compensation package he deserved and supported him with insurance and his legal claim for injury at work," he said.

"Support will continue for as long as he needs it."

In a tweet responding to the article, Mrs Bailey said her husband "retired 7 weeks ago and he's still fighting for part of his pension".

Resonding to Mrs Bailey's tweet, Mr Andrews said the federation had "supported Nick and his family since this terrible incident and our door is always open to help him in the future".

"What happened to Nick is unprecedented and I hope will never happen to any other police officer or any other British citizen again," he said.

"I can only hope that one day the offenders will be brought to justice and Nick will be able to rest knowing that."

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said the force had worked with Mr Bailey and his family "to provide continuing support to help them deal with the impact of this terrible incident and assist him to try and return to active police duties".

"It was with great sadness that regrettably this was not possible and Nick left the force with our very best wishes for the future," he added.

"It would be wholly inappropriate for us to further comment publicly on private matters relating to a former police officer."

Mr Bailey returned to duty last year but left Wiltshire Police in October, saying the aftermath "took so much from me" and he could "no longer do the job".

He and two colleagues were sent to Mr Skripal's home after the former Russian spy and his daughter, who was staying with him, were found seriously ill on a bench in Salisbury.

Mr Bailey was contaminated when he touched the door handle of Mr Skripal's home in the city.

The Skripals survived the attack, and in the months two Russian nationals were accused of travelling to the UK to try to murder Mr Skripal with Novichok.

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

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