EX-COP HANGED HIMSELF AT HOME
Secret of sex abuse allegation
A FORMER policeman who was found hanged had been facing being charged over allegations he sexually abused a young girl.
Her grandparents said they believed Robert Jones-Welch had “escaped justice” by killing himself two days after being interviewed by police.
Detectives have since written to the family of the girl, who was 12 when the abuse was said to have begun, telling them they had enough evidence to charge him.
After an inquest yesterday concluded the ex-traffic cop had taken his own life, they told the Mail of their anger that JonesWelch had taken “the coward’s way out” before he could be charged and tried.
And they revealed chilling details of how, when they first informed their granddaughter the 50-year-old had been found dead, she was able to give them specific details of how and where his life had ended – telling them he had threatened he would kill himself if she ever told anyone about their relationship.
The girl’s grandfather, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the youngster, relived the moment the family were first informed of the allegations, which had been been brought to North Wales Police’s attention by a third party, not the girl or her family.
He said: “I was at my daughter’s house. Two policemen and a social worker came.
“They interviewed our granddaughter, and then the police told us these allegations had been made and they were being taken seriously.”
Two days later, on Sunday November 13 last year, the news came that Jones-Welch, who detectives had arrested and quizzed, had been found dead near his home on Anglesey.
The grandfather added: “We sat our granddaughter down and said, ‘We have some very bad news to tell you, Robert Welch has passed away’.
“She immediately jumped up and said, ‘Did he hang himself? Did he do it in a particular field? From a particular horse shelter? Because he said to me if he was caught that’s what he would do’.
“I was absolutely shattered because that was the realisation these allegations were true. She said he’d told her some weeks before that if he was caught that is what he was going to do.”
The couple say the strain has been immense on the whole family, and the girl’s mother has been particularly affected.
“He knew what he was doing and he managed to hide it from everybody,” he added.
The girl’s grandmother added: “He’s ruined this family. He took the coward’s way didn’t he?”
The grandfather said: “When I heard he had taken his own life I thought at least she doesn’t have to go through a trial.
“Now I think we’ve been deprived of a trial and the chance of having him proved guilty. He’s deprived us of justice.”
A letter sent to the girl by the investigating detective in the case, seen by the Mail, said: “Were the perpetrator still alive sufficient evidence exists that he would have been charged for the offences against you.
“In my view the evidence is strong and I would have anticipated a charging decision to have been made by the Crown Prosecution Service.
“I base my assessment upon your credibility as a complainant. Also there is disclosure evidence from other parties in support of your account.”