Dominic Cummings potentially broke lockdown rules, say Durham police

Dominic Cummings’ trip to Barnard Castle potentially broke lockdown rules and would have led to police sending him back to his family’s estate had he been stopped, Durham police have concluded. 

The 60-mile round trip on 12 April by the prime minister’s senior aide from his family’s Durham farm is assessed by Durham police as a potential breach, but does not warrant any further action, they say.

The findings raise questions for the prime minister, who has strongly backed Cummings.

In a statement Durham police 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.

“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.”

They added: “Durham constabulary does not consider that by locating himself at his father’s premises, Mr Cummings committed an offence contrary to regulation 6 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020. (We are concerned here with breaches of the regulations, not the general government guidance to ‘stay at home’).”

A No 10 spokesperson said: “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.”

On Monday, Cummings admitted to reports that he had driven with his family to Durham. He also admitted a 60-mile round trip to Barnard Castle and said he got out of the car near the River Tees for up to 15 minutes. He said he wanted to test his eyesight and whether he was fit enough to make the long drive back to London.

The force had carried out an exercise to establish the facts about Cummings’ controversial trip to the north-east in late March and April.

The force was asked on Monday morning to establish the facts by Steve White, the acting police, crime and victims’ commissioner for Durham, who oversees the force.
On Friday the Guardian and Daily Mirror revealed Cummings had driven 260 miles from his London home to his parents’ property in Durham on 27 March, at a time when the public were being told to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The initial story led to further claims and alleged sightings of Cummings in the Durham area.

Cummings on Monday afternoon denied all wrongdoing and insisted his actions were lawful, which failed to quell calls for his resignation.

Durham’s chief constable, Jo Farrell, acted after receiving a letter from White asking her to look at all the claims about Cummings’ time in Durham. White wrote: “I have today written to the chief constable, asking her to establish the facts concerning any potential breach of the law or regulations in this matter at any juncture.”

As part of their inquiry Durham police visited and took a statement from Robin Lees, a retired chemistry teacher, who had seen Cummings at Barnard Castle.

Read the original article at The Guardian