A Russian whistleblower who is suspected to have been poisoned vomited a “greeny yellow” liquid after he collapsed on a road in the gated estate in Surrey where he lived, an inquest was told yesterday.
A passing motorist found Alexander Perepilichnyy lying on his side, almost in the recovery position.
Mr Perepilichnyy, 44, a businessman had eaten home-made sorrel soup prepared by his wife and daughter before he went out for a run in November 2012.
He was found at about 5pm by Neil St Clair-Ford, a security guard and chauffeur, as he drove around the St George’s Hill estate, near Weybridge.
“I slowed down and saw it was a person,” he told the inquest. “I stopped the car, wondered what it was. Looked around. You have to be a little bit careful because you are trained not to stop the car in case someone wants to kidnap the principal.”
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He told the inquest that he did not know Mr Perepilichnyy but had seen him jogging a dozen times, struggling to get up the hill, “gasping for breath”.
The Russian was pale, cold and “trembling” and appeared to making a “choking” noise, he said.
Mr St Clair-Ford called his colleague Liam Walsh to help with first aid and ran to a neighbouring house to dial 999.
The two men turned Mr Perepilichnyy over to carry out CPR and they noticed a small cut on his head.
Mr Walsh said that while mouth to mouth resusciation was being given, Mr Perepilichnyy was drooling. “It was like bile coming up. It was a similar taste to licking a battery,” he said. “It was a strange taste. There was no solid in it at all. It was just liquid, a gold colour, greeny yellow. Every time I gave him a breath it would come up out of his throat and I got a mouthful each time.”
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Mr Walsh said that the position of Mr Perepilichnyy’s body in the road was strange as was the fact that he appeared to have fallen straight down and not to have staggered. When paramedics arrived Mr Perepilichnyy was in cardiac arrest and showed no signs of life, Daniel Weller, a paramedic, told the inquest at the Old Bailey.
Before his death Mr Perepilichnyy had been helping Hermitage Capital Management to uncover a £150 million Russian money-laundering operation.
The court has been told that he appeared to receive threats, his name was on a “hit list” in Moscow and he had taken out big life-insurance policies.
The inquest continues.
