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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 refused to examine allegations of bullying within the Conservative party during an inquest into the death of the Tory activist Elliott Johnson, but will investigate his dismissal from a Thatcherite pressure group weeks before his death. | A coroner has refused to examine allegations of bullying within the Conservative party during an inquest into the death of the Tory activist Elliott Johnson, but will investigate his dismissal from a Thatcherite pressure group weeks before his death. |
| Lawyers for Ray and Alison Johnson, Elliott’s parents, argued at a hearing on Wednesday that the inquest into their son’s death should consider claims the 21-year-old suffered “inhuman and degrading” treatment at the hands of the Tory election aide Mark Clarke and others in the weeks before he died. | Lawyers for Ray and Alison Johnson, Elliott’s parents, argued at a hearing on Wednesday that the inquest into their son’s death should consider claims the 21-year-old suffered “inhuman and degrading” treatment at the hands of the Tory election aide Mark Clarke and others in the weeks before he died. |
| But in a written ruling released on Friday, Tom Osborne, the senior coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, said it was “beyond the proper scope” of the inquest to call Tory party members to interrogate them over steps being taken to investigate bullying claims. | But in a written ruling released on Friday, Tom Osborne, the senior coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, said it was “beyond the proper scope” of the inquest to call Tory party members to interrogate them over steps being taken to investigate bullying claims. |
| Osborne has refused at this stage to call Clarke and the former political adviser Andre Walker to address the accusations publicly in a move questioned by the Johnson family. | Osborne has refused at this stage to call Clarke and the former political adviser Andre Walker to address the accusations publicly in a move questioned by the Johnson family. |
| “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,” he said. | “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,” he said. |
| Johnson was found dead on railway tracks at Sandy station, Bedfordshire, on 15 September after leaving three notes, in one of which he alleged Clarke had bullied him and Walker had betrayed him. | Johnson was found dead on railway tracks at Sandy station, Bedfordshire, on 15 September after leaving three notes, in one of which he alleged Clarke had bullied him and Walker had betrayed him. |
| While the coroner has decided not to call Clarke and Walker to give evidence, he will examine the notes left behind by Johnson. However, he has agreed to investigate Johnson’s dismissal from his role as political editor at the rightwing thinktank Conservative Way Forward (CWF) on 19 August last year. | |
| In his ruling, Osborne says the redundancy letter is “clearly linked” to an altercation between Johnson and Clarke in a Westminster pub on 12 August, which prompted Johnson to complain about Clarke to the Conservative party. CWF has previously denied Johnson’s redundancy was linked to this incident. The group continued to employ him part-time as a social media consultant. | In his ruling, Osborne says the redundancy letter is “clearly linked” to an altercation between Johnson and Clarke in a Westminster pub on 12 August, which prompted Johnson to complain about Clarke to the Conservative party. CWF has previously denied Johnson’s redundancy was linked to this incident. The group continued to employ him part-time as a social media consultant. |
| Paul Abbott, former CWF chief executive, will be called to give evidence and deal with the correspondence between the organisation and Johnson. | Paul Abbott, former CWF chief executive, will be called to give evidence and deal with the correspondence between the organisation and Johnson. |
| Elliott’s father welcomed the coroner’s proposal to look at his son’s redundancy but questioned the decision not to call Clarke and Walker. | Elliott’s father welcomed the coroner’s proposal to look at his son’s redundancy but questioned the decision not to call Clarke and Walker. |
| “I’m pleased that the coroner has decided to investigate Elliott’s dismissal by CWF,” he said. “It’s good the coroner recognises the link between the dismissal and Mark Clarke. This is a really important step forward for the family.” | “I’m pleased that the coroner has decided to investigate Elliott’s dismissal by CWF,” he said. “It’s good the coroner recognises the link between the dismissal and Mark Clarke. This is a really important step forward for the family.” |
| He adds: “The coroner says it is hard to see at this stage what the point would be in calling Mark Clarke and Andre Walker as witnesses. He says they would simply deny the bullying – I am not sure why he says that. | He adds: “The coroner says it is hard to see at this stage what the point would be in calling Mark Clarke and Andre Walker as witnesses. He says they would simply deny the bullying – I am not sure why he says that. |
| “He also says he will keep an open mind in relation to any further information. So maybe this will change at a later stage.” | “He also says he will keep an open mind in relation to any further information. So maybe this will change at a later stage.” |
| In his ruling, 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. | In his ruling, 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. |
| The coroner said the situation would be different if Johnson had been bullied by an MP or if there had been a position of trust, such as that between a teacher and child, between Johnson and Clarke. | The coroner said the situation would be different if Johnson had been bullied by an MP or if there had been a position of trust, such as that between a teacher and child, between Johnson and Clarke. |
| 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”. | 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.” | 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.” |
| Explaining his decision not to call Clarke or Walker, he said 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.” | Explaining his decision not to call Clarke or Walker, he said 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.” |
| The Conservative party has appointed the law firm Clifford Chance to run an inquiry into the bullying allegations, but this has been rejected by Johnson’s parents. | The Conservative party has appointed the law firm Clifford Chance to run an inquiry into the bullying allegations, but this has been rejected by Johnson’s parents. |
| Grant Shapps resigned as a minister in November because he signed the letter appointing Clarke as director of RoadTrip2015, a youth election campaign, when he was chair of the Tory party. His resignation came the day after the Guardian revealed Shapps had received a letter from Lady Warsi complaining about Clarke’s conduct in January 2015. The Tory party had up until that point claimed that it was first made aware of Clarke’s alleged behaviour in August. |