Lockdown left Rothwell woman unable to say goodbye to dying mum...now family "appalled" by Dominic Cummings' Durham trip

A Rothwell woman sacrificed saying goodbye to her dying mum because of what she saw as strict lockdown laws - and has been left heartbroken after "elasticity" was applied when Dominic Cummings broke them by travelling to Durham.

Mary Liggins and her partner Dave Durant were at their holiday home in County Kerry, Ireland, when the lockdown came in March. They reluctantly chose to stay there as they are both 70 and in the 'at risk' group and didn't want to take a potentially dangerous trip, and are still there now.

In mid-April Mary's mother, 97-year-old Agnes Casey, was taken seriously ill at her Desborough care home and Mary and Dave wanted to go back to the UK to be with her in her final days.

But because they felt it was "plainly against UK law to travel" they took the painful decision to stay put, meaning they did not get to say goodbye before Agnes died on April 20 and did not travel to the funeral.

They have been left outraged after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's closest adviser, Dominic Cummings, drove for four-and-a-half hours to Durham during the lockdown before later taking a trip out to tourist hotspot Barnard Castle. He will not face any action.

In a letter to MP Philip Hollobone, Dave said: "I'd like to know how I explain to Mary that his circumstances constituted a valid reason to break lockdown, when hers didn't?

"To say Mary is heartbroken barely does justice to the sense of hurt and wrong that she feels.

"To say that I'm appalled by Cummings' actions and the endorsement of them by Boris Johnson is an understatement."

At an extraordinary press conference today Mr Cummings said exceptional circumstances meant he had 'no option' but to drive 260 miles to his parents' Durham farm because he needed to make sure he had appropriate childcare. He said his wife was ill with coronavirus symptoms and he feared he could also be left incapacitated by the virus.

After feeling ill he claimed he then drove to tourist hotspot Barnard Castle weeks later - with his wife and child - to make sure his eyesight was up to the drive back to London so he could return to work.

He has been backed by Boris Johnson and said he won't be resigning after refusing to apologise - but said he "understood" the anger felt by many who read about him flouting the restrictions in the media.

Agnes did have a little comfort as she died with her son allowed a brief end of life visit, and the regulation ten people were allowed to her funeral.

But Mary, who has been making PPE for hospitals and GP surgeries in Kerry, believed the strict rules meant she was unable to see her mum one last time.

Her partner Dave added: "We discussed long and hard about the possibility of returning to the UK, but ultimately we took the painful decision to remain here in Ireland since it was plainly against UK law for us to travel - the news was full of very sad stories of people unable to say final goodbyes to loved ones because of travel restrictions.

"Mary was considerably distraught at this, but was eventually persuaded that it was a case of sacrificing personal wishes for the greater good of the public as a whole...we now see the degree of 'elasticity' in the supposedly strict lockdown law as applied to Dominic Cummings and his need to 'arrange childcare'."

More than 500,000 people have signed a petition demanding Mr Cummings be sacked.

A smattering of Tory MPs - including Wellingborough's Peter Bone - have also broken ranks and called for the adviser to resign.

Kettering MP Philip Hollobone has been contacted for comment.