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| Elliott Johnson: coroner rejects plea to examine bullying claims | Elliott Johnson: coroner rejects plea to examine bullying claims |
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| A coroner has rejected a plea by the parents of Tory activist Elliott Johnson, who is believed to have killed himself, to expand the scope of the inquest into their son’s death to examine allegations of bullying by members of the Conservative party. | A coroner has rejected a plea by the parents of Tory activist Elliott Johnson, who is believed to have killed himself, to expand the scope of the inquest into their son’s death to examine allegations of bullying by members of the Conservative party. |
| Lawyers for Ray and Alison Johnson argued at a hearing on Wednesday that the inquest should consider claims the 21-year-old suffered “inhuman and degrading” treatment at the hands of Tory election aide Mark Clarke and others in the weeks before he died. | Lawyers for Ray and Alison Johnson argued at a hearing on Wednesday that the inquest should consider claims the 21-year-old suffered “inhuman and degrading” treatment at the hands of Tory election aide Mark Clarke and others in the weeks before he died. |
| But in a written ruling on Friday, Tom Osborne, the senior coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, said the allegations would not form part of the inquest, which would instead focus on the immediate circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death. | But in a written ruling on Friday, Tom Osborne, the senior coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, said the allegations would not form part of the inquest, which would instead focus on the immediate circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death. |
| Johnson was found dead on railway tracks at Sandy station, Bedfordshire, on 15 September after leaving a note in which he alleged Clarke had bullied him and former political adviser Andre Walker had betrayed him. | Johnson was found dead on railway tracks at Sandy station, Bedfordshire, on 15 September after leaving a note in which he alleged Clarke had bullied him and former political adviser Andre Walker had betrayed him. |
| Explaining his decision, Osborne said: “It is my view that it would clearly be going beyond the proper scope of this inquest to be calling members of the Conservative party to inquire into what steps or measures they are taking to investigate the bullying allegations by a party member towards another party member. | Explaining his decision, Osborne said: “It is my view that it would clearly be going beyond the proper scope of this inquest to be calling members of the Conservative party to inquire into what steps or measures they are taking to investigate the bullying allegations by a party member towards another party member. |
| “This is very remote from the death of the deceased. [...] The situation would be different if the deceased had been bullied by an MP carrying out his/her functions as an MP, or if there was a position of trust, such as parent and child or teacher and child or indeed employer and employee, between the deceased and Mr Clarke. | |
| “This was, on the face of it, a dispute between two individuals who were not connected, apart from the fact that they shared the same political affiliation, and the deceased worked for a campaigning section of the Conservative party.” | “This was, on the face of it, a dispute between two individuals who were not connected, apart from the fact that they shared the same political affiliation, and the deceased worked for a campaigning section of the Conservative party.” |
| Heather Williams QC, representing the Johnsons, had argued at the pre-inquest review that the bullying suffered by their son amounted to a breach of human rights law under article 3 of the European convention on human rights, which prohibits “inhuman or degrading treatment”. | |
| But Osborne rejected this position. “While bullying of any kind is unacceptable, I cannot accept that the nature of the bullying alleged to have been carried out against Elliott can be regarded as being in breach of article 3.” | |
| Osborne said, however, that the fact that Johnson lost his job as political editor at the rightwing think-tank Conservative Way Forward should be investigated. The coroner also accepted that a letter of complaint sent by Johnson to Conservative campaign headquarters about Clarke’s behaviour was relevant. | |
| The three notes left by Johnson before his death and a recording of a confrontation he had with Clarke and Walker were also relevant and would be considered, Osborne said. | |
| He said he did not think calling Walker or Clarke in person to the inquest was necessary as the “allegation against them is a blunt one of bullying and betrayal It is difficult to see that, beyond the assertions made by the deceased in his letter, what these potential witnesses could add to the inquest, save for to deny any bullying.” |