Boris Johnson 's chief adviserDominic Cummings may have broken lockdown rules, according to a UK police force.- Durham Police say there are reasonable grounds to believe Cummings committed a "minor breach" of the rules.
- The UK government had insisted that Cummings had stuck to the rules.
- Johnson has refused to sack his aide, despite public anger about the incident.
There are reasonable grounds to believe Boris Johnson's chief adviser Dominic Cummings broke lockdown rules, an investigation by Durham Police has found.
Durham Police concluded that Cummings, who has denied any wrongdoing, may have committed a "minor breach" of the rules when he drove to Barnard Castle on April 12.
Cummings has claimed that he drove his wife and son to the English beauty spot in order to test that his vision, which he claimed had been impaired by the coronavirus, was sufficient to allow a longer drive back to London the next day.
In a statement, a Durham police spokesperson said on Thursday that: "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."
They added that "Durham constabulary view this as minor because there was no apparent breach of social distancing."
The statement concluded that "Had a Durham constabulary police officer stopped Mr Cummings driving to or from Barnard Castle, the officer would have spoken to him, and, having established the facts, likely advised Mr Cummings to return to the address in Durham, providing advice on the dangers of travelling during the pandemic crisis. Had this advice been accepted by Mr Cummings, no enforcement action would have been taken."
Cummings has been backed by the prime minister, who has insisted that Cummings did not break the rules, which forbid non-essential trips being made.
His refusal to sack Cummings has caused widespread anger both among the UK public and among Conservative MPs, more than 70 of whom have publicly criticised him.
Despite the apparent breach of the rules, the force will be taking no further action against him, a spokesperson said.
Downing Street said they would also be taking no action against Cummings for the breach.
"The police have made clear they are taking no further action against Mr Cummings over his self-isolation and that going to Durham did not breach the regulations," a spokesperson for Johnson said.
"The Prime Minister has said he believes Mr Cummings behaved reasonably and legally given all the circumstances and he regards the issue as closed."
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