The lawyers say the prime minister’s actions during the pandemic have left the government vulnerable to civil claims being brought for negligence and the violation of human rights. Weatherby and Abrahamson believe that Johnson’s conduct could also amount to ‘the criminal offence of gross negligence manslaughter’, although they believe it is unlikely that the Crown Prosecution Service would take up such a case. That may change, they note, if further evidence emerges at a future public inquiry.
