Boris Johnson’s most senior aide did break lockdown rules.
Dominic Cummings did break lockdown rules when he made a 50-mile round trip from Durham to Barnard Castle, an investigation by Durham Police has concluded.
The breach is described as “minor” as there was no apparent breach of social distancing, according to Durham Police.
Durham Police confirmed they will not be taking further action as it would not be in line with how they have acted throughout the pandemic to date.
Cummings claims that he made the drive in question, on 12 April, to test his resilience to drive to London the following day, including whether his eyesight was sufficiently recovered.
In a statement on Thursday, 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.”
“In line with Durham Constabulary’s general approach throughout the pandemic, there is no intention to take retrospective action in respect of the Barnard Castle incident since this would amount to treating Cummings differently from other members of the public.”
Durham Constabulary has confirmed that it will take no further action in this matter and has informed Cummings of this decision.
At a press conference earlier this week, addressing his trip from London to Durham, a journey of over 250 miles, Cummings said: “I don’t regret what I did… I think what I did was actually reasonable in these circumstances. The rules made clear that if you are dealing with small children that can be exceptional circumstances.
“I don’t think I’m so different, and I don’t think there’s one rule for me and one rule for other people,” he added.
“There is no regulation covering the situation I found myself in.”
Cummings has not publicly responded to statement by Durham Police at the time of writing.
