MET POLICE URGED TO INVESTIGATE DOMINIC CUMMINGS' TRIP DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

The Guardian 6 July 2020 - by Matthew Weaver

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

The Metropolitan police have been urged to launch an immediate investigation into Dominic Cummings’ trip from London to Durham at the height of the coronavirus outbreak by the former chief prosecutor for north-west England.

Lawyers for Nazir Afzal have written to the Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, arguing that the behaviour of Boris Johnson’s chief adviser during the lockdown warrants a “thorough investigation” by the force.

They say the “continuing pressing public imperative to ensure strict compliance” with advice about the pandemic “makes this matter urgent”.

Aftzal’s lawyers point out that a three-day investigation by Durham police was confined to Cummings’ movement in County Durham and made no finding on why he left London when his wife was suffering symptoms of coronavirus and a day before he fell ill with a suspected case.

© Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock Dominic Cummings outside his home in London on Friday. An investigation by Durham police found he probably breached coronavirus regulations but decided to take no further action.

The letter to Dick says: “The apparent wrongdoing included actions in London, including Mr Cummings leaving his home without reasonable excuse on 27 March.”

Afzal, whose brother Umar died of coronavirus on 8 April when he was self-isolating at home, has become the figurehead of a legal campaign to ensure that Cummings’ alleged lockdown breaches are fully investigated.

As well as writing to Dick, his lawyers, Hodge Jones & Allen, have also written to the chief constable of Durham olice, Jo Farrell, and the director of public prosecutions, Max Hill, calling for further investigation of Cummings’ behaviour.

All three letters say: “That information will enable him [Afzal], the Crown Prosecution Service and the public to understand whether Dominic Cummings should be charged and prosecuted for breach of the health protection (coronavirus, restrictions) regulations 2020 and/or related offences.”

They point out that a number of public authorities, including the police, suggested Cummings’ bending of the rules had “undermined the importance of compliance and the made the task of police enforcement with the public more difficult across the country”.

A three-day investigation by Durham police into Cummings’ travels found he probably breached health protection regulations when he took a 52-mile round trip to Barnard Castle, County Durham, with his wife and son on her birthday.

The force decided to take no further action and made no finding in relation to “stay at home” government guidance over Cummings’ initial decision to leave London for Durham.

The letter to Hill says Durham police’s investigation was “short, narrow and limited” and “did not consider the lawfulness of Mr Cummings leaving London, or other alleged wrongdoing”.

It added: “We emphasise on behalf of Mr Afzal that it would be misconceived for the police or the Crown Prosecution Service to approach Mr Cummings’ conduct as if it were insufficiently serious to warrant prosecution at this stage … The seriousness of Mr Cummings’ wrongdoing is an assessment for prosecutors to make, once they have been given the relevant evidence by police and other investigators.”

Each of the letters included a nine-page annex setting out what is known so far about Cummings’ movement during the lockdown alongside the relevant rules at the time. It also includes a list of the “further information required”. Dick, Farrell and Hill have been given 14 days to respond.

Afzal is worried that public confidence in the law has been damaged by the Cummings affair. He said: “I am concerned that the police and prosecutors have not received all the relevant information and their decision making will be incomplete as a result. I am troubled that previous correspondence from people, including MPs, has gone unanswered.”

He also encouraged anyone with information about Cummings’ movements during the lockdown to email his solicitor, Mike Schwarz, at mschwarz@hja.net.

Schwarz said: “It is Mr Afzal’s simple wish and expectation that current senior police investigators and prosecutors are reminded of their responsibilities and carry out their during in Mr Cummings’ case. By failing to do so they would perpetuate the public’s perception that there is one rule for those in positions of power and another for ordinary citizens.”

A spokeswoman for No 10 said it was not commenting on the issue.

The letters will add pressure on Johnson over the behaviour of his chief adviser.

On a LBC phone-in on Friday, Gurvinder from Slough, asked the prime minister why he could not see his mother before she died whereas Cummings could drive 264 miles to stay at his parents’ property at the height of the pandemic.

“How do you expect the public to follow the rules if the people setting the rules don’t really care about them themselves?” he asked.

Johnson said he “really, really” understood public concern about the issue, and added: “Most people in this country have shown huge forbearance and sacrifice – the overwhelming majority.”