Lawyer taking on Dominic Cummings forced to move home

Nazir Afzal is a notable former prosecutor whose brother died during the pandemic - Credit: Steve Morgan

A lawyer who took on Dominic Cummings over his lockdown breach has claimed he has been forced to move home because his campaign for an investigation sparked attacks on his property.

Nazir Afzal has revealed after launching his legal campaign to prosecute the former Number 10 adviser he had a brick thrown through the window of his home in Manchester, and weeks after had his car “slashed” too.

He told the Guardian: “My family felt scared. I don’t blame Dominic Cummings. All I know is that in 25 years prosecuting some of the most organised criminals in the country, nobody has attacked my home. Yet suddenly someone starting attacking me and my family and we’ve had to move house.

“There’s always a personal cost to standing up [for] what’s right. In 2006 I was on an al-Qaida death list after I prosecuted Danish cartoon protesters, and in 2012 the far right demonstrated outside my house after the Rochdale grooming gang case. I accept that people will attack me personally, but I draw the line when my family is involved.”

But rather than feeling intimidated, he said it has strengthened his motivation.

“It has made me more committed to delivering justice, not just in the Cummings case, but for anybody who feels they are not being listened to. More than 3,000 people have crowdfunded the campaign to get Cummings prosecuted, and thousands more have messaged me to say ‘you’re doing this for me’. This is about restoring trust.”

Afzal set out his case for prosecuting Cummings in an article in The New European.

Police are currently assessing a 225-page dossier submitted by Afzal and his lawyers.