Teens 'ran amok' at ex-MP's Covid firm - court

Shahid Malik was Labour MP for Dewsbury from 2005 to 2010 and served as justice minister under Gordon Brown

Teenage employees "ran amok" at a coronavirus testing firm led by a former government minister, the company's staff members told a court.

Shahid Malik is on trial at Bradford Crown Court with four others accused of fraudulent trading and causing a public nuisance. Mr Malik and another of his co-defendants, Faisal Shoukat, are also accused of money laundering.

The trial has been hearing evidence from former employees of RT Diagnostics, a firm set up by Mr Malik and Mr Shoukat during the pandemic, with one of them likening its premises in Halifax to a "building site".

The defendants deny all of the charges against them.

Prosecutors allege the business - which made £6.67m in three weeks - was a "cash cow" set up to take advantage of the Government's expanding test and trace system in March 2021.

Mr Malik, 57, who became Labour MP for Dewsbury in 2005 and was a justice minister and communities minister before losing his seat in 2010, was the "driving force" behind the company alongside pharmacist and former Halifax councillor Mr Shoukat, 37, the court heard.

Lynn Connell, 64, Dewsbury East councillor Paul Moore, 56, and Dr Alexander Zarneh, 70, are accused of fraudulent trading and causing a public nuisance.

On Wednesday, Bradford Crown Court heard evidence from Amber Morley, who worked as an administrator at RT Diagnostics between June and July 2021.

Ms Morley said the premises, on Lister Lane off Francis Street, were "like a building site" and staff did not wear personal protective equipment (PPE) every day.

The "phones never stopped ringing" with complaints, she added, while the email inbox had more than 1,000 unread messages at one point, with many people either complaining that they had not received their test results or that part of the sample kit was missing.

She said staff were told by a manager that, if a customer was chasing up a result after 24 hours, they could tell them their test was negative.

"We were told they were all tested and if it wasn't positive on the system they were sent elsewhere so we would never see a positive one," she said.

Ms Morley told the court some employees refused to use one room because it appeared to have untested samples lying around in boxes.

She said: "It was never confirmed officially but they looked like used samples in the tubes.

"After we complained, they moved it. There was a few of us (who complained) because it was just disgusting."

The RT Diagnostics site was previously described as 'shoddy and inadequate'

A former packing supervisor at RT Diagnostics said that the company employed teenage boys who "ran amok" and that untested sample kits were left in boxes because the firm was unable to cope with the "sheer volume" coming in.

Giving evidence, Jennifer Duncan said the number of people she was supervising went from nine to 20 during her time at the firm, adding that the "vast majority" of new employees were "aged between 16 and 18".

This "caused things to go downhill", she told jurors. She left the supervisor role "so that I didn't have to deal with the younger ones because it was stressing me out".

"It was the younger ones, they weren't listening to me, they were running amok," she added.

Asked about her claims that untested sample kits were being left in boxes, she said: "I think they meant well, it was just way too much more than what they thought.

"The sheer volume of tests that were being requested, and even bigger volumes of ones coming back, it was just overflow.

"I believe they had good intentions, they most likely were wanting to test them but they weren't. They laid there."

The trial continues.

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