Brother of Amesbury novichok victim Charlie Rowley says ‘it’s not looking good’

The brother of novichok victim Charlie Rowley has told Sky News the 45-year-old is being treated in hospital for meningitis and “it’s not looking good”.

Mr Rowley was readmitted last month, weeks after he was poisoned with a nerve agent that killed his partner Dawn Sturgess.

Matthew Rowley said his brother had lost his sight and cannot move his hands, arms or legs.

“I spoke to the nurse and asked what’s the problem – they said its not looking good at the moment… reading between the lines it doesn’t sound good at all,” he said.

“I spoke to him last night, every day I try to but it’s like talking to a 10-year-old kid…it’s really upsetting.

“I can’t get really much sense out of him.

“It might be the medication but he just doesn’t sound right.”

Charlie Rowley and 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess fell ill in June in Amesbury, four months after the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with novichok in Salisbury.

Ms Sturgess died a week after becoming exposed to the poison and Charlie Rowley was released from hospital a few weeks later.

Matthew Rowley said he did not believe that his brother has been normal since.

“I said this all along – they released him from hospital too early,” he said.

“He went from intensive care to being released.

“I don’t think they gave him a chance to recover his system, to pick up again.

“He just didn’t seem right. He was not himself. He’s normally a bit bubbly and chatty.”

Mr Rowley said he hopes to visit his brother in hospital over the next few days.

(c) Sky News 2018: Brother of Amesbury novichok victim Charlie Rowley says ‘it’s not looking good’