Judge Says Former Minister May Not Have Known of False COVID Test Results

A judge who cleared a former Labour minister in a case involving a fraudulent COVID-19 testing company said there was insufficient certainty that the former minister knew the business was issuing false negative results. The ruling concerned the minister's alleged role in the company's activities and the question of his knowledge of the false test results.

According to a report published by the Helensburgh Advertiser, the judge said he could not be sure the former minister knew the company was providing inaccurate negative results. The available report did not identify the minister by name or provide further details about the evidence considered in reaching the decision.

The case involved a company accused of fraudulent activity in COVID-19 testing. False negative results can indicate that a person is not infected when a test should have detected the virus, making the reliability of testing services a central issue in cases involving alleged testing fraud.

The judge's assessment focused on whether the former Labour minister knew about the provision of false results. The report did not provide additional information about the circumstances surrounding the company's operations, the specific evidence presented in court, or the full reasoning behind the decision to clear the former minister.

The Helensburgh Advertiser published the report on October 9, 2026, as part of its subscriber partnership with USA Today. The publication noted that the article was written by American colleagues and did not necessarily reflect the views of The Herald.