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UK PM's Top Aide Investigated for Lockdown Breach Whilst Infected with COVID
Police say Dominic Cummings Breached Lockdown When He Drove to Barnard Castle
Dominic Cummings said he took a 30 minute drive to the beauty spot of Barnard Castle to 'test his eyesight' over concerns it had been affected by a suspected case of coronavirus
Daily Mirror UK, 28 MAY 2020
Cummings spent his isolation period in Durham, not his main London home (Image: Phil Harris)
Barnard Castle was about a 30-mile drive from where Mr Cummings was staying (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
However the force, which according to the most recent data, has issued 137 fines for lockdown breaches, said it would not be any further action against Mr Cummings.
It also stated that the initial trip was not a breach of the lockdown.
In an extraordinary press conference in the Rose Garden at Downing Street, Mr Cummings said that he, his wife and son made a trip in the car so that he could check his eyesight was good enough for him to make the drive to the capital after he had struggled with it during a bout of illness which he thought could have been coronavirus.
The PM's top aide gave a highly unusual press conference to explain himself (Image: PA)
The force's statement said: "Durham Constabulary have examined the circumstances surrounding the journey to Barnard Castle (including ANPR, witness evidence and a review of Mr Cummings’ press conference on 25 May 2020) and have concluded that there might have been a minor breach of the Regulations that would have warranted police intervention.
"Durham Constabulary view this as minor because there was no apparent breach of social distancing.
Mr Cummings breached lockdown when he drove to Barnard Castle (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
"Had a Durham Constabulary police officer stopped Mr Cummings driving to or from Barnard Castle, the officer would have spoken to him, and, having established the facts, likely advised Mr Cummings to return to the address in Durham, providing advice on the dangers of travelling during the pandemic crisis.
"Had this advice been accepted by Mr Cummings, no enforcement action would have been taken."
A No10 spokesman said in response: "The police have made clear they are taking no action against Mr Cummings over his self-isolation and that going to Durham did not breach the regulations.
"The Prime Minister has said he believes Mr Cummings behaved reasonably and legally given all the circumstances and he regards this issue as closed."
The Prime Minister, the Health Secretary and other cabinet ministers have insisted that Mr Cummings's journeys fell within the lockdown rules.
But today Durham Police have concluded that the senior aide did, in fact, breach the rules.
Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said: “The police have confirmed what we all knew, that Dominic Cummings broke the rules he helped to write. The country cannot afford for this saga to carry on. Only Boris Johnson can draw a line under it.
“Keir Starmer has said that if he was Prime Minister, he would have sacked Dominic Cummings. Boris Johnson should follow that advice.
"If he does not act then he will send a clear message that there is one rule for his closest adviser and another for the British people.”
At an extraordinary press conference on Monday evening Mr Cummings explained why he had left the property where he was staying on his father's estate to travel to Barnard Castle.
He said: "My wife was very worried, particularly as my eyesight seemed to have been affected by the disease," he said.
"She did not want to risk a nearly 300 mile drive with our child given how ill I had been.
"We agreed we should go for a short drive to see if I could drive safely. We drove for roughly half an hour and ended up on the outskirts of Barnard Castle town.
"We did not visit the castle, we did not walk around the town."
More than 35 Tory MPs have now called for Mr Cummings to quit but the Prime Minister has stood by his aide.
Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:
"The Durham Police have now confirmed what the public already knew - Dominic Cummings should not have done what he did. The fact that Minister after Minister have tried to pretend otherwise has been an insult to each and every one of us following the rules to keep each other safe from the virus.
"Either the Prime Minister and his Ministers lied or they have no understanding of the rules they have written.
"This behaviour over the past few days has entirely eroded the public's trust in the Government. The Prime Minister has said he wants to move on so that all efforts can be focused on the UK's response to the pandemic, but the only way to do that would be for him to ask for Dominic Cumming's resignation.
"Over the past two months the British public have made huge sacrifices - losing their freedom, their livelihoods, and in many tragic instances - someone they loved.
"The longer Dominic Cumming stays in post, the more people will feel that there is one rule for him and one for everyone else, seriously threatening public health. Unless he resigns, the sacrifices everyone has made are at risk of being entirely undermined."
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