Mar 13, 2018
UK card shop finds itself in middle of Russian spy poisoning

When the staff of G&T’s World of Cards greeting card shop in Salisbury closed up last Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. and left the store by the back door, little did they know that only 15 minutes later former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia would be found slumped unconscious on the bench right outside the shop, having been exposed to a highly poisonous nerve agent.

A policeman outside G&T’s ensuring that no one enters the cordoned area.

The highly unusual circumstances as well as the potency of the poison has caused the area surrounding the scene of discovery to be cordoned off for the entire week, with this enclave in the quiet city of Salisbury being the epicenter of a major global event.

This has meant that G&T’s and its retail neighbors have been closed with no one granted entry while investigators in anti-contamination suits and police have been the only ones allowed anywhere near.

As Gary Newman, owner of G&T’s, which comprises seven shops in Hampshire and Dorset, said, “It has been a very expensive Mother’s Day for me!” with reference to the shop being fully stocked with Mother’s Day cards and gifts, but was unable to sell for the run-up to the event.

G&T’s Salisbury shop is located in The Maltings precinct where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were first discovered having been contaminated by the highly toxic poison.

“It has been weird seeing the shop featured on the news, but we have not been allowed to go anywhere near it,” said Newman. “It is not the sort of fame I would have chosen, but you have to look at the bigger picture. I fully appreciate the need for the thorough investigation and feel grateful that none of my staff are at risk.”

Newman, who has owned the business for 20 years, has been pursued by national press, with journalists turning up at his home in hope of gleaning some extra information. “I have told them that we know less than them. All I want is for the investigations to be over so we can get trading again.”

For more on the story, click here.




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