Welsh First Minister is urged to quit over death

WELSH First Minister Carwyn Jones has said he acted “by the book” and had “no alternative” over allegations against former assembly member Carl Sargeant who was found dead on Tuesday.

Mr Jones faced calls to quit after Mr Sargeant’s family claimed the former Welsh government minister had been denied “natural justice” because he was unaware of the detailed nature of the allegations against him.

Mr Sargeant is understood to have taken his own life and an emotional Mr Jones said “these are the darkest days any of us can remember”.

But in a statement he said: “I quite properly did all that I could to make sure that everything was being done by the book. I had no alternative but to take the action that I did and I hope that people will understand that.”

Mr Sargeant (49) was facing allegations of “unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping” and was sacked from his ministerial role by Mr Jones and suspended by the Labour Party on Friday.

The Alyn and Deeside AM’s family said Mr Sargeant’s distress at being unable to defend himself properly meant he was not afforded “common courtesy, decency or natural justice”.

A friend of Mr Sargeant said Mr Jones’ treatment had been “unforgivable” and he should “do the right thing and resign”.

But Mr Jones resisted the calls, saying: “There is a legal process to go through and I am obviously acting within that. I welcome any scrutiny of my actions in the future and it is appropriate for that to be done independently.”