Ex-politician 'unaware Covid tests needed checks'

An ex-politician accused of running a coronavirus testing firm which returned a "suspiciously low" number of positive results told a court he did not know the testing process needed independent verification.

Faisal Shoukat, who served as a Labour councillor on Calderdale Council, is on trial at Bradford Crown Court along with four others involved in the business, including the company's co-director former justice minister Shahid Malik.

The defendants are accused of running a fraudulent business and public nuisance. Mr Shoukat, from Halifax, and Mr Malik, from Burnley, are also accused of money laundering.

The defendants have denied all of the charges.

Prosecutors have alleged RT Diagnostics "purported to be a testing laboratory" when in reality tests were "dumped in a room" with customers sent fake negative results for the deadly virus, thereby endangering people's health.

The court previously heard how the company reported 123,104 tests between May and July 2021, but only 45 of these were positive results.

On Tuesday prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford said Mr Shoukat had signed documents claiming the firm's testing process had been independently verified, when in fact "there was never an independent validation of [their] test set up".

Mr Shoukat admitted he had filled out the documents without checking the answers he was giving, telling jurors: "I was in the hands of experts".

He said he was "merely reciting what had already been said" by another of his co-defendants, Dr Alexander Zarneh, a scientist said to have been "instrumental" in helping the company make millions through enabling it to access to the government's list of test providers.

Asked by Mr Sandiford why he did not read the questions being asked or check the answers were correct, he replied: "Why would I when I have got an expert in this field who has been through the process many times?"

Mr Shoukat told the court he had relied on more than 10 other "experts" to advise him, but none of them had told him independent validation was needed.

He said: "If I knew that I needed independent validation [...] I would have ensured it was done."

Mr Shoukat later agreed with a suggestion from Mr Sanidford that the lack of independent verification of the company's testing process meant "not a single consumer received a properly validated test record from RT Diagnostics".

Earlier in his evidence, Mr Shoukat had also defended employing staff as young as 15 at the firm's laboratory at Park Works in Halifax.

A witness previously told the trial teenage staff members were "running amok" at the premesis, which medical safety inspectors likened to a "building site".

"I personally don't have an issue taking on any school-leavers," said Mr Shoukat, who is the first defendant to give evidence.

The trial, which is expected to last until March, continues.

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