Nazir Afzal urges police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to be proactive on the Cummings / Wakefield Covid investigation as it reaches a critical stage
On 30th October, Nazir Afzal’s legal team sent the police and CPS substantial submissions on why they should investigate Dominic Cummings and Mary Wakefield for suspected criminal offences arising from their actions during the first lockdown in Spring 2020 [see press release].
They have received no substantive response from Durham police (the Chief Constable’s office), the Metropolitan police (the Commissioner), the Director of Public Prosecutions or from York CPS headquarters.
The deadline for prosecutors to apply for summonses in relation to Covid regulations offences, on one view, expires this week. Only the police, CPS and other authorities can initiate these prosecutions.
On 30th October and since then, with the cooperation of the public, significant new leads and evidence have been presented to the police and CPS, including:
- Evidence of a further possible trip to Durham City itself by Dominic Cummings during lockdown
- Photographic evidence that Dominic Cummings went deeper into Barnard Castle than the ‘outskirts’ to which he has admitted
Nazir Afzal says:
“The public rightly remain concerned that there appears to be one law for some in positions of power and another for the rest of us. So it’s vitally important to maintain public confidence in policing and justice, we therefore continue to keep an active interest in what the police and CPS will do with these allegations. If anything, the evidence is stronger than when we submitted our file.”
Mike Schwarz, Mr. Afzal’s solicitor at Hodge Jones & Allen says this:
“We would expect investigators and prospective prosecutors – Durham and the Metropolitan police in particular – in the exceptional and grave circumstances of the Cummings case to take these submissions and this new evidence seriously. Time is now of the essence.”
Notes:
For further information on this press release, please contact:
Yellow Jersey PR:
Georgina Whittle
T: 0808 239 4011 | 0808 239 5975
Alex Crean
T: 0808 239 3996 | 0808 239 5975