Boris Johnson could be summonsed to court tomorrow over claims he lied when he said the UK gave the EU £350 million a week during the 2016 referendum.

The Conservative leadership frontrunner is expected to receive notice that he must attend Westminster Magistrates' Court within the next three to four weeks.

It comes as it emerged the Remainer entrepreneur who crowdfunded £370,000 to prosecute Boris Johnson spent nearly £50,000 of the donations on himself.

Conservative leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson gets into a car in London this morning

Marcus Ball, 29, pictured outside Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 14, is bringing a case for alleged misconduct in a public office

Marcus Ball, 29, who is bringing a case for alleged misconduct in a public office, spent the money self-defence classes, a luxury flat and branded cupcakes.

Allies of the Tory leadership frontrunner have attacked the court's decision to summons him over the allegations following the private prosecution by Mr Ball.

A source close to the ex-foreign secretary said the prosecution was 'nothing less than a politically motivated attempt to reverse Brexit and crush the will of the people'.

'The claimant has openly admitted that his plan is to overturn the referendum via a legal challenge and he clearly intends to try and undermine the one man who can truly deliver Brexit.

'The decision to issue a summons is extraordinary, and flies in the face of hundreds of years of British democratic tradition.'

Meanwhile today, Mr Ball's finances have now come under scrutiny after a spending report he posted on his Brexit Justice campaign website revealed his outgoings.

He is still accepting donations via crowdfunder.co.uk and his current website has raised £280,000 with another 42 days to go before it closes.

Mr Johnson, who is the favourite in the Tory leadership race, could now face a crown court trial in the next six months on three charges of the crime, raising the possibility he will be hauled to court while serving as prime minister.

The MP's representatives branded the case a 'political stunt' and want it to be dismissed, while several of his Tory colleagues have slammed the decision by District Judge Margot Coleman to send it to crown court.

Remainer Marcus Ball, 29, pictured,who is bringing a crowdfunded private prosecution against Boris Johnson, spent nearly £50,000 of donations on a salary for himself, rent, self-defence classes and branded cupcakes for his legal team, his own spending report reveals

He also spent £210 on Brexit Justice branded cupcakes, pictured, to thank his legal team

Mr Johnson (pictured in London this morning), frontrunner in the Tory leadership race, is set to be hauled to court in the next few weeks and he could face a trial while serving as prime minister. His representatives want the case dismissed and have branded it a 'political stunt' aimed at 'reversing Brexit'

Mr Ball, pictured outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, also spent more than £500 on self-defence classes and equipment after he said he received threats

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC, has the power to stop the case in its tracks if he deems it to be 'malicious or flawed', but it has to be referred to him by either party for a decision to be made.

Last night Mr Ball said he expected the summons to be issued by the court to Mr Johnson 'within days', complete with the date of the next hearing.

Mr Ball, of Norwich, has raised the cash to pursue the prosecution through a number of websites over the past two years.

His spending report reveals £47,000 was taken out for his own needs, including paying himself a salary of more than £36,000 over the combined two years.

The die-hard Remainer who films Instagram videos in his bedroom and crowd-funded over £200,000 to spend three years targeting Boris Johnson, boasting: 'This case is a world first' Remainer Marcus Ball, pictured, has been trying to bring the prosecution for more than two years The man targeting Boris Johnson is a die-hard Remainer who has spent the three years since the Brexit referendum working on his case against the Leave figurehead. Marcus Ball, 29, has relied on crowdfunded donations of more than £200,000 to employ a team of lawyers to fight on his behalf - boasting that the case was a 'world first'. The start-up company entrepreneur from Norfolk, who worked developing mobile app including a political Tamagotchi, founded Brexit Justice in June 2016. He has also previously worked as a speaker and writer as well as campaigning to reform higher education in the UK. He is a well-known Instagrammer who often films himself discussing the case in the bedroom of his west London flat, which has signs on the wall including: 'When politicians lie, democracy dies' and 'Brexit justice'. Describing his motivations he said: 'I was just like, 'F*** this. This has to stop',' Ball says. 'This is a primitive problem, which has been around for thousands of years. It's not impossible to stop it.' It followed the 2016 referendum campaign in which Mr Ball says Mr Johnson abused the public's trust. He has since been building a case against Mr Johnson for the last two years. Initially the campaign wanted to bring prosecutions against six 'remain and leave campaigners' but decided to pursue only Mr Johnson after reviewing the evidence. The others have not been identified. A source close to Mr Johnson accused Mr ball of being politically motivated, saying: 'He has written internet blogs, which have since been removed, disclosing his intention to stop Brexit and reverse the referendum via a court case.' Mr Ball has so far raised £234,345 of the £500,000 target through Crowdfunder.co.uk and has raised the rest of the £370,000 through other donation sites. More than 6,000 people have supported the cause through donations. The page was set up in order to pay the lawyers who are representing Brexit Justice. The costs are published on the Brexit Justice website, which show legal fees and well as expenses. Advertisement

Mr Ball spent more than £6,000 on rented a luxury, high-security flat in Canary Wharf to use as both a home and an office, and lost another £1,250 after forfeiting his deposit.

He said: 'As I felt the case got closer to being actionable I began to think about my own personal security and safety a lot more. I was aware of the death threats sent to another legal action leader [Gina Miller] who had decided to hire her own security guards.'

Mr Ball, a graduate of Canterbury Christ Church University, added: 'I had previously been told to go and kill myself and another message informed me that I was being watched in London, Norwich and Canterbury (places I have lived in recent years).

'I needed a new place to live in London anyway, so I chose a building which had security staff, security cameras outside and inside, as well as fitness facilities on site. I worked and lived there almost every day for 6 months. I didn't really need to leave very often.

'I shared the flat with two other people, thus making it much more affordable. I was considering staying for longer until it became clear that the security wasn't as good as I had hoped.

'It also became much more expensive as my roommate left the flat. I eventually decided it was better to leave.'

He added: 'Some people may criticise me for spending so much on rent, but I don't regret this decision.'

Regarding the deposit, he added: 'I had suddenly changed my mind about continuing to live and work there and so ended up losing my deposit.

'My judgement was not good and I made a mistake. I apologise to my backers for this mismanagement of funds. It was a stupid thing to do.'

His finances also reveal he spent £540 on self-defence classes and equipment, while another £210 was spent on branded 'Brexit Justice' cupcakes sent out as a 'thank you' to his legal team.

Mr Ball said: 'Good health, fitness and confidence helps me to perform better at work. By protecting myself I protect our work. Also, really helped me a lot as I spent most of my working time alone.'

On the cupcakes, he added: 'It was also an attempt to achieve a sense of team spirit and motivation.

'It's important to show your team that they are valued. These were well received but did not achieve what I had hoped they would.'

Mr Ball has also faced accusations that his campaign against Mr Johnson is 'politically motivated'.

But he claims his campaign has always been about 'making sure both sides tell the truth' and at an earlier hearing this month his team said it was 'not about reversing Brexit'.

It has since emerged Mr Ball has deleted one earlier crowdfunding page which appealed for donations to 'prevent Brexit'.

At the time he wrote on the page: 'Once these prosecutions have established that politicians did indeed lie to voters, our next step will be to take other action to prevent Brexit.'

In a recent message to backers, Mr Ball said he would be 'going quiet' until the case was resolved.

He said: 'Due to the sensitive nature of the case and the importance of respecting court proceedings I am unable to speak publicly about what is occurring to the same extent as I previously was.

'For this reason I will be going quite quiet for this section of the process. I will not be at liberty to speak as freely or as informally as I previously have been.'

Mr Johnson made the comments in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum and before the 2017 General Election. He faces three charges - two in his role as an MP and Mayor of London in 2016, and another as an MP in 2017.

The 54-year-old was supported by his leadership rival Michael Gove yesterday as well as ally Jacob Rees-Mogg and former cabinet minister David Mellor.

He said: 'Whatever view you take on Brexit, we must not try to close down debate. Contending opinions and vigorous argument are the essence of democracy.

'We should trust the public to decide on the merits of a political case. We should not try to criminalise free speech.'

Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg, who is supporting Mr Johnson's leadership campaign, blasted the decision to prosecute him.

The European Research Group chairman said: 'It is an attack on free speech and the courts are ill advised to be used as the tools of political activists.'

Mr Ball, pictured, also apologised to donors for 'mismanaging their funds' after losing more than £1,000 in a deposit on his flat

Mr Johnson was a key player in the Vote Leave campaign. He is pictured next to a bus claiming Britain sends the EU £350 million a week

He added: 'It is trying to use the courts to achieve a political end which, I think, is neither right or proper.

'This is involving the courts in something that is not their area.

'We need courts and politicians to respect each other, and it is an abuse of process, and a troubling one.

'It has been brought by people who are resentful of the referendum result.'

What is misconduct in a public office and can it lead to a jail sentence? Misconduct in public office is an offence which is only triable by indictment. It carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a starting point of six months in prison, meaning Boris Johnson could face jail time if found guilty. Mr Johnson has three charges of misconduct against him - two relating to comments made before the 2016 referendum when he was both Mayor of London and an MP, and the other when he made similar comments as an MP before the 2017 General Election. The public misconduct offence is confined to those who hold positions in public office and fail to act in a way that constitutes a breach of the duties of that office. The offence is committed when: · a public officer acting as such; · wilfully neglects to perform his duty and/or wilfully misconducts himself; · to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder; · without reasonable excuse or justification. Public officers are supposed to carry out their duties for the benefit of the public as a whole and if they do no conduct themselves correctly then this may lead to a breach of the public's trust Advertisement

Leadership candidate Matt Hancock added: 'However people voted in the Referendum, we shouldn't have courts judging on political debates. Let's have robust debate to test arguments - and keep courts out of politics.'

The decision was welcomed by Remainer Lib Dem MP Ed Davey, a supporter of the Best for Britain campaign.

He said: 'Given Boris Johnson wants to be the next Prime Minister of this country, it's only right that he is held accountable for the lies he told in 2016.

'Boris Johnson has never had to rely on these vital public services. That's why he doesn't care about the impact of his campaign slogans.'

Mr Ball launched a 'Brexit Justice' campaign in 2016 after accusing Mr Johnson of 'abusing public trust' over the comments. He then raised the cash for the private prosecution - which he claims is a 'world first' - by crowdfunding £370,000 through various websites from more than 6,000 donors.

Initially Brexit Justice wanted to bring action against six 'remain and leave campaigners' but after reviewing evidence the campaign decided Mr Johnson was the only person who could be prosecuted. The others have not been identified.

No date has been set for the next court appearance but, with a new Tory leader due to be in place by the end of July, it means Mr Johnson could face trial while Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson has long been the favourite to succeed Mrs May, who announced she would step down last week after her Brexit failures.

But he is facing stiff competition from other leading figures including Michael Gove, whose odds have shortened dramatically since he announced he was running.

The leadership race sees a wide field of candidates whittled down to just two candidates in voting by MPs. These two finalists then go head-to-head in a vote by thousands of party members.

In a written decision, District Judge Margot Coleman said: 'The allegations which have been made are unproven accusations and I do not make any findings of fact.

'Having considered all the relevant factors I am satisfied that this is a proper case to issue the summons as requested for the three offences as drafted. The charges are indictable only.'

In her ruling, Ms Coleman said: 'The applicant's case is there is ample evidence that the proposed defendant knew that the statements were false.

'One example is given that in a televised interview in May 2016 the proposed defendant stated, 'we send the EU £10 billion per year' and that therefore he knew that the £350 million per week figure (£20 billion per year) was incorrect.'

Mr Ball's website is illustrated with the logos of a number of major institutions which have invited him to speak, including the University of Cambridge.

However, Mr Ball, who was educated at Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent, is believed to have given only one talk in Cambridge – in the last academic year, to Peterhouse College.

The website also says he's contributed to Russia Today, the controversial Kremlin-funded TV station recently fined by Ofcom for breaching broadcasting standards during coverage of the Salisbury poisonings.

The website carries the logo (a two-headed eagle resembling a coat of arms) of an organisation called Ambition House, a company Mr Ball founded in 2012 to 'provide unique training and education to students and graduates' but which has since been dissolved.

Mr Ball is a director of three other companies: Think of a Name Later Ltd, a software development firm founded in 2016 but which has been dormant since then; a PR firm incorporated in 2017, which was due to file accounts last month, but hasn't.

And finally Brexit Justice Ltd latest accounts show assets of just £22,000.

Several of the companies are registered to his family home, a £630,000 property near Norwich Cathedral. Mr Ball was born in the Norfolk city in 1989, the son of a retired English teacher.

His birth certificate lists his name as Joshua Edwin Ball. At some point during adulthood, it is believed he changed it by deed poll, to Marcus, for £15, although it is unclear why.