[ad_1]
Police and the Crown Prosecutor’s Office received a 225-page dossier urging them to investigate Dominic Cummings for allegedly perverting the course of justice, in connection with a statement about his travels to northeast England at the height of the pandemic .
Former regional chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal said Cummings’ claims during a press conference in the Downing Street rose garden on May 25 affected the course of justice as they were made when the Durham police investigation into his behavior was already underway.
Afzal’s lawyers gave many details of the accusation in the file sent on Friday to the Durham police, the metropolitan police and Max Hill, the director of the public prosecutor’s office, and his staff at the CPS.
They stated that the legal test for such prosecution had been met. The file also charges Cummings and his wife, Mary Wakefield, with multiple alleged crimes under coronavirus regulations for leaving their main home in London and their second home in Durham without, it says, a reasonable excuse.
The gravest allegation in the documents is the claim that Cummings perverted the course of justice in his account of his trip to Barnard Castle on April 12 and his denial of a claim that he made a second lockdown trip to Durham. If such a charge is proven, Cummings could face a prison sentence.
In a statement, Afzal’s attorneys said: “The alleged crime of perverting the course of justice arises from Mr. Cummings’ statement in the rose garden… Mr. Cummings made public statements about his conduct at Barnard Castle on 12 of April and his actions on the weekend of April 17-19 that appear to be totally incompatible with the accounts of his conduct at that time obtained from eyewitnesses. “
Cummings admitted in his statement that he had traveled to Durham and Barnard Castle, the Guardian and the Daily Mirror revealed. He said he had acted legally and traveled to Durham to isolate himself after his wife fell ill with the suspected Covid, and a day earlier he also fell ill.
He claimed he had phone details to prove he was not in Durham on April 19, as a Guardian source had claimed. When three other people made similar claims, Downing Street said it considered the matter closed and declined to release the evidence that Cummings said showed he was in London.
Two of the people, Dave and Clare Edwards, gave statements to Durham police officers on May 25 as the senior aide to the prime minister was giving his press conference, claiming they saw a man they believed to be Cummings on May 19. April in Durham’s Houghall Woods. .
Submissions from Afzal’s attorneys said Cummings’ account appeared to have influenced a three-day investigation by Durham police into his confinement trips.
The force did not make any findings on their decision to leave London because their investigation was limited to County Durham. It concluded that the trip to Barnard Castle on Wakefield’s birthday amounted to a “minor” violation of the rules “because there was no apparent violation of social distancing,” and found that there was “insufficient evidence” that he did a second trip.
Afzal’s lawyers said the new witness statements cast doubt on these findings.
At least three people have reported seeing Cummings at Barnard Castle, including Robin Lees, a retired chemistry teacher, who alerted the Guardian and police that they had seen Cummings and his family get into a car on a south side road. from Tees on 12 April.
Cummings said he stayed with the Tees for 10 to 15 minutes and did not move more than 15 meters from his car. But Rosalind Evans, a retired municipal worker, told The Guardian and police that she saw someone she believed to be Cummings downtown on April 12.
A third person, Alan Gowland, told the Sunday Times and later the Guardian that he saw someone he believed to be Cummings on a road next to a dam on the other side of the Tees since the Lees sighting.
Afzal’s file includes eight exhibits of new witness statements at Barnard Castle and Durham. The Met and the CPS have previously rejected Afzal’s request to investigate the allegations against Cummings.
Afzal, whose brother Umar died of coronavirus while isolating himself at home on April 8 when Cummings was in Durham, said he wanted to get to the truth.
“The picture painted by the witnesses who have come forward seems clear and consistent and is inconsistent in important parts with the version given by Mr. Cummings,” he said. “I think the CPS public interest test is also met, given the impact this has had on overall compliance with Covid regulations.”
A spokesman for No. 10 said: “The prime minister has said that he believes Cummings behaved reasonably and considers the matter closed. Durham Police have made it clear that they are not taking any further action against Mr. Cummings and that by locating at his father’s facility he did not violate regulations. “
Cummings and Wakefield have been contacted for comment.
