UK police have determined that there was a “minor breach” of Covid-19 regulations by PM Boris Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings, but that no retrospective action will be taken against him.
Durham police said there “might have been a minor breach of the regulations that would have warranted police intervention” when Cummings made a 26-mile journey from his parents’ farm in Durham to Barnard Castle. The breach was described as minor in nature because the family complied with social distancing guidelines.
Cummings found himself at the center of a major political storm this week after it was revealed that he drove 250 miles from London to Durham with his ill wife while the British government was warning people to stay home and make no unnecessary trips.
Anger at Cummings was compounded by the trip from the farm to Barnard Castle on his wife’s birthday, supposedly, he claimed, to test his eyesight for the trip back to London.
Police said, however, that despite the breach, “there is no intention to take retrospective action” on that journey “since this would amount to treating Mr Cummings differently from other members of the public.” The statement noted that retrospective action had not been taken against anyone else.
Police also said they had seen insufficient evidence to support reports which suggested that Cummings had returned to Durham a second time.
Cummings has refused to resign despite public uproar. Johnson staunchly stood by his adviser, with a spokesperson for Downing Street saying Thursday that the PM considers the case “closed.”
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