London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 19, 2025

Proper investigation of Cummings ‘might have prevented’ Partygate

Proper investigation of Cummings ‘might have prevented’ Partygate

Former prosecutor for north-west England, Nazir Afzal, critical of police handling of alleged Covid rule breaches

Partygate could have been avoided if the police had properly investigated alleged lockdown breaches by Dominic Cummings, a former regional chief prosecutor has claimed.

Nazir Afzal, the crown prosecutor for north-west England until 2015, also expressed exasperation at fresh revelations about the way Durham police looked into Cummings’ journeys to Durham and Barnard Castle after they were exposed by the Guardian and the Mirror in May 2020.

Last month Durham’s chief constable, Jo Farrell, admitted that her officers did not interview Cummings as part of their three-day investigation into the lockdown movements of Boris Johnson’s then chief adviser.

She told the Mirror that the force treated Cummings’s televised press conference in Downing Street’s rose garden as a witness statement about his behaviour instead.

In May 2021, Cummings admitted to MPs that he did not tell the whole truth in the rose garden. “I should probably explain some things about this that were not put into the public domain at the time in the rose garden,” he told a joint session of two select committees.

Speaking to the Guardian, Afzal said: “The police relied on an account which the suspect himself has deviated from subsequently. That in itself makes it likely that the police investigation was flawed.”

Afzal’s lawyers, Hodge Jones & Allen, have written to the Metropolitan police and Durham constabulary urging them to share any “lessons learned” about their handling of Cummings’ behaviour in the light of the more thorough investigation that officers eventually conducted into Partygate.

And they asked whether the Met still stood by its decision not to investigate Cummings leaving London for Durham when he had suspected Covid.

Afzal said: “Had the police promptly and robustly investigated those responsible for setting the rules, but seemingly breaching the rules, Partygate might not have happened.

“In relation to Dominic Cummings, then a central player within Downing Street, Durham police could and should have done so at the time of the breaches and when presented with the evidence and complaints.

“Such action would have reinforced the message to the prime minister and those around him, that the Covid regulations, which they created and encouraged others to follow, should be observed, both in spirit and by the letter.”

After a three-day investigation in May 2020, Durham police concluded that Cummings’ infamous journey to Barnard Castle probably amounted to a “minor” breach of the rules.

But the force took no further action and made no finding on Cummings’ decision to leave London because the investigation was confined to County Durham. It also said there was insufficient evidence that Cummings made a second trip to Durham on 19 April 2020 despite taking statements from nurse practitioner Clare Edwards and her husband, Dave, claiming they had seen him in Durham that day.

In February 2021 Durham police rejected a 225-page dossier submitted by Afzal’s lawyers alleging that Cummings had breached the Covid rules multiple times.

It also alleged that Cummings perverted the course of justice in his account of his journey to Barnard Castle on 12 April and his denial of a claim that he made a second lockdown trip to Durham around 19 April.

Last May, Cummings again insisted to MPs that it was “false” to claim he made a second trip to Durham. But he appeared to concede they did leave London a second time because of security concerns: “It is true that I moved my family out again.”

Asked at the time to explain how four people claimed to have seen him in and around Durham’s Houghall Woods on the morning of 19 April, Cummings told the Guardian: “I did not go back to Durham on [the] 19th. I was in London on [the] 19th and with my son on Hampstead Heath, and phone data proves it.”

The Guardian has seen a photograph taken at 3.31pm that day appearing to show Cummings on Hampstead Heath with his family. It also established that it was possible to drive from Durham to London in under four hours during lockdown.

Explaining Durham’s decision not to interview Cummings, Farrell told the Mirror: “I remember thinking, as he talked, that it would be the account of the circumstances.

“From a proportionality point of view, there was an extensive and well-documented narrative about what he had done and where he had been. We used that and information about the decision-making around it.”

The Met told Afzal’s lawyers that it held no information on lessons learned from the Cummings case and referred the issue to Durham police. Durham police have yet to respond, but Farrell told the Mirror she was “confident and satisfied the decisions we took then will stand the test of time”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
×