Partygate means all Covid fines should be overturned, lawyer argues

Call for penalties to be scrapped in light of Boris Johnson's defence of breaches, as 23 already struck down

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Covid fines should be overturned en masse in light of the prime minister's defence for attending lockdown-breaching events, a lawyer has argued, as it emerged more than 20 penalties imposed on businesses had been struck down in recent months.

Lucinda Nicholls, who successfully represented 23 firms and is still fighting on behalf of seven more, said serious deficiencies in the evidence presented against her clients - as well as Boris Johnson's own apparent confusion about how to apply his own rules - called every penalty imposed under Covid legislation into question.