Bogus Covid lab accused denies staff wrongdoing

A former councillor accused of running a bogus coronavirus testing firm has denied any wrongdoing on behalf of the company's staff.

Faisal Shoukat, who served on Calderdale Council before stepping down in 2023, is on trial at Bradford Crown Court along with four others involved in RT Diagnostics - including 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 allege RT Diagnostics "purported to be a testing laboratory" when in reality tests were "dumped in a room" with fake negative results sent to customers, potentially putting the health of the public at risk.

Of the 123,104 tests it reported to the NHS Test and Trace service, a "suspiciously low" number of just 45 were positive, the trial was previously told.

On Thursday, Mr Shoukat, 39, faced further questions over an investigation published in The Sun newspaper in July 2021 about alleged wrongdoing by the company at its laboratory at Park Works in Halifax.

Asked by his barrister, Abdul Iqbal KC, whether after reading the article he accepted any wrongdoing by any member of staff in regard to testing, the defendant replied: "Absolutely none."

Mr Shoukat was also asked about a phone call he made to a prosecution witness prior to the trial beginning.

The witness, Jennifer Duncan, worked as a supervisor at RT Diagnostics and criticised the firm's practices during her evidence, claiming teenage staff members "were running amok".

Mr Shoukat insisted he had made the phone call in error and told the court: "It wasn't designed to unsettle her.

"The second I realised that I had contacted the wrong person I ended the call. I phoned up [my solicitor] straight away and notified him."

The defendant also hit out at Royal Mail and Recova-19 - a portal used by customers to log in and check their test results - over their role in the struggles faced by RT Diagnostics.

He claimed there was "an inherent flaw" in the Recova-19 system which meant customers were unable to access their results, resulting in RT Diagnostics being inundated with complaints.

On Royal Mail, Mr Shoukat said: "Out test kits were ending up at other laboratories, stuff from other laboratories was ending up at ours.

"We were getting supplies of clothes and toys and gifts which wasn't due for us. It was just an absolute mess."

Mr Shoukat was asked by His Honour Judge Christopher Smith why RT Diagnostics - whose tests were said to be the cheapest on the government's list of providers - did not "turn the tap down a little" when the company's problems with Royal Mail, Recova-19 and customer complaints began to mount.

He replied: "At the time I was being an optimist. We genuinely thought we could manage, had the IT systems and Recova fallen into place.

"I think we would have coped absolutely fine."

Mr Shoukat said the firm "turned the tap off" on further test kit sales around the start of June 2021, days before it was removed from the government's list of providers amid growing complaints about its operation.

The trial continues.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.