The Litvinenko Inquiry

Appendix 1: The history of the Inquiry and
procedures adopted
The police investigation
1. On 23 November 2006, Alexander Litvinenko died at University College Hospital in
central London.
2. Before Mr Litvinenko’s death, the police had already commenced an investigation into
his apparent poisoning.
3. Once the investigation established that Mr Litvinenko had been poisoned with
polonium 210, which was discovered on the day of his death, the priority of the
investigation became the operation to protect public health. It became important to
identify members of the public who may have been contaminated. The Metropolitan
Police Service (MPS) worked with the Health Protection Agency (now known as Public
Health England) on this.
4. Immediately following Mr Litvinenko’s death, over 200 police officers were involved
with the investigation. More than 60 scenes were examined and assessed. These
included hotels, offices, restaurants, nightclubs and bars, residential premises,
public transport vehicles, aeroplanes, a football stadium and hospitals. More than 40
requests were made for mutual legal assistance to more than 15 countries.
5. On 22 May 2007, the MPS/Crown Prosecution Service (the CPS) considered that there
was sufficient evidence to charge Andrey Lugovoy with the murder of Mr Litvinenko.
An application was made to City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court for the issue of a
warrant for Mr Lugovoy’s arrest.
6. Following further investigation, the MPS/CPS considered that there was sufficient
evidence also to charge Dmitri Kovtun with the murder of Mr Litvinenko. An application
was made to City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 4 November 2011 for the
issue of a warrant for Mr Kovtun’s arrest.
7. In addition to the issue of these warrants, Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun have been placed
on international lists of wanted persons. They both remain wanted for Mr Litvinenko’s
murder. However, they have both remained within the Russian Federation, from which
they cannot be extradited as they are both Russian citizens.
8. Because they are both still wanted for Mr Litvinenko’s murder, the criminal investigation
by the MPS continues.
9. The MPS also provided assistance to the inquest proceedings and the Inquiry
proceedings (the procedures in which are further described below). Officers of the
MPS have acted as Coroner’s officers in addition to their criminal investigation duties.
The evidence collated by the MPS formed the majority of the evidence available to the
inquest. Further, after the establishment of the Inquiry, the Commissioner of Police
for the Metropolis gave consent for his officers to continue to assist the Inquiry in a
similar role.
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