A former UK MP from Dewsbury who served as a justice and communities minister before losing his seat in 2010 has been cleared of charges related to fraudulent trading, causing public nuisance, and money laundering involving a bogus Covid-19 testing firm called RT Diagnostics. The case involved four defendants; the judge decided on the verdicts without a jury after one juror was arrested. Although the company generated £6.67 million in three weeks, prosecutors alleged it provided false negative results and failed to properly handle test samples, with only 45 positive results out of over 123,000 tests reported to authorities.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Shahid Malik, a 58-year-old former Labour MP who served as justice minister and communities minister from 2005 until losing his seat in the 2010 election, was cleared of charges related to RT Diagnostics on Thursday. The company, established in March 2021 during the UK government's expanding test-and-trace system, was accused by prosecutors of being a "cash cow" meant to exploit the pandemic. Malik faced allegations of fraudulent trading, causing public nuisance, and money laundering along with four others; however, he was found not guilty.
The trial at Bradford Crown Court had an unusual turn when one juror was arrested for allegedly conspiring to pervert the course of justice in April 2023. Judge Christopher Smith then continued the trial without a jury, taking on the role himself and deciding on the verdicts. Despite this, Malik's co-defendant Faisal Shoukat, a former councillor, was found guilty of all three offenses.
Prosecutors claimed that RT Diagnostics made around £6.67 million in just over three weeks while operating out of inadequate premises in Halifax, West Yorkshire. They also highlighted issues with the company’s test accuracy, noting that only 45 out of more than 123,000 tests reported positive results between May and July 2021.
Written for “Covid Testing Fraud Trial” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
The 58-year-old, who became the MP for Dewsbury in 2005 and was a justice minister and communities minister before losing his seat in the 2010 election, was one of five people charged over the company, which prosecutors said was a “cash cow” set up to take advantage of the Government’s expanding test and trace system in March 2021.
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prosecutors → become → March
One juror was arrested.
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juror → arrest → ?
Judge Smith took the decision to continue the trial without the jury, with him deciding on the verdicts.
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him → take → verdicts
Read More
On Thursday, he cleared Mr Malik of fraudulent trading, causing a public nuisance and money laundering.
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he → read → nuisance
The court heard Mr Malik started the business with pharmacist and former Labour councillor Faisal Shoukat, 39, when the third national lockdown was ending in March 2021.
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lockdown → hear → March
Shoukat was found guilty of all three offences.
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Shoukat → find → offences
Lynn Connell, 64, a manager at the company, and registered scientist Alexander Zarneh, 70, who was its clinical director, were also cleared of the same two offences.
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who → clear → offences
Prosecutors said RT Diagnostics, which made £6.67 million in three weeks, was set up in “shoddy and inadequate premises” in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and gave out false negative results to customers.
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which → say → customers
Defence barrister Jonathan Laidlaw KC said that Mr Malik’s role in the business had been “very limited indeed” and that he had acted as “a facilitator – putting the money up and making introductions”.
Giving his closing speech to jurors in March, Mr Laidlaw said Mr Malik never went to the premises when it was in operation.
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it → say → operation
He told the court that for most of the time the business was operating, Mr Malik was out of the country and there was no evidence he was told about any of its issues while he was abroad.
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he → tell → issues
Mr Laidlaw said the fact that the former MP had made money from RT Diagnostics “can’t possibly be the basis for a guilty verdict”.
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MP → say → verdict
The court heard that as the third national lockdown was ending in March 2021, the Government was looking to expand its test and trace system by increasing the number of laboratories offering PCR testing.
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Government → hear → testing
The defendants were accused of “taking advantage” of that process with an “inadequate and non-compliant” testing company.
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defendants → accuse → company
Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC said the Halifax laboratory was set up in “shoddy and inadequate premises” with holes in the walls and ceilings and rubbish strewn around.
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laboratory → say → walls
Jurors heard earlier in the trial that the company employed “numerous young people who had little or no training in the handling of Covid-19 samples” and set them to work with no social distancing and no personal protective equipment.
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who → hear → distancing
The prosecutor said there was evidence of the company providing false negative results and that it “generated a suspiciously low number of positive results”.
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it → say → results
Just 45 out of more than 123,000 test results submitted to the national database between May and July 2021 were reported to be positive, the court heard.
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court → submit → May
Mr Sandiford said RT Diagnostics failed to properly handle test samples and sold far more PCR sample collection kits to consumers than it was able to process.
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it → say → consumers
“Because of that, some of the test samples that were returned by consumers to the laboratory were not tested but simply dumped in a room on the premises,” he told jurors.
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he → return → jurors
He said this meant people who ought to have been self-isolating were going out in public.
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who → say → public
The trial started in October last year and jurors were sent out to start their deliberations in March.
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jurors → start → March
In April, they were discharged after an allegation of jury tampering.
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they → discharge → tampering
Judge Smith’s ruling that he could deliver verdicts himself was challenged by Shoukat, but last week three judges at the Court of Appeal refused him leave to appeal.
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judges → deliver → leave
The judges also lifted reporting restrictions on the case.
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judges → lift → case
In a statement issued following the verdict, Mr Malik said: “Today marks the end of perhaps the darkest chapter of my life.
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Today → issue → life
“I am profoundly relieved and grateful that, after a painstaking five-year judicial process, I have been found not guilty of every criminal charge brought against me.
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I → find → me
“I maintained my innocence from the very beginning, and today’s verdict, delivered by His Honour Judge Smith, brings to an end years of uncertainty and an enormous personal ordeal for me and my family.
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verdict → maintain → me
“Throughout this experience, and as a former Justice Minister, I have never lost faith in the fundamental principles of British justice.
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I → lose → justice
Today, that faith has been vindicated.
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faith → vindicate → ?
“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to my family, friends and the many people who have stood by me, offered their prayers and provided encouragement throughout this ordeal.
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who → want → ordeal
“Naturally, I also want to thank my barristers, the indomitable and irrepressible Jonny Laidlaw KC and Angus MacDonald, and my solicitor, Mike Rainford of JMW, for their forensic approach and wealth of experience, which were instrumental in establishing my innocence.
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which → want → innocence
“I have always believed that truth and justice would ultimately prevail, knowing full well that, on occasion, even in this country justice can fall short.
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justice → believe → country
Today, I am profoundly grateful that it did not.
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it → do → ?
“I now look forward to putting this extraordinarily difficult period behind me and moving forward with my life.”
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I → look → life
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