Welsh minister must quit, says rape victim

A RAPE victim last night called on a Cabinet minister to resign over claims that he knew a Conservative candidate had sabotaged her trial.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns had insisted he was unaware that evidence given by his former aide Ross England, 32, had led to the collapse of a trial at Cardiff Crown Court in April last year.

Last December Mr Cairns endorsed Mr England’s candidacy as a Welsh assembly member for the Vale of Glamorgan.

But yesterday BBC Wales said it had obtained a leaked email sent to Mr Cairns about the case on August 2 last year by Geraint Evans, his special adviser. It said: ‘I have spoken to Ross and he is confident no action will be taken by the court.’ There is no direct evidence Mr Cairns read the email.

Asked last night if Mr Cairns should resign, the victim – who worked for the Conservative Party – said: ‘Absolutely. If he’d condemned [Mr England] in the first instance, he wouldn’t be in this position. I would like an apology from the party and Alun Cairns for selecting him.’

The allegation relates to the rape trial of Mr England’s friend James Hackett, 31, in April 2018. Labour MP Jo Stevens told the Commons last week that the judge in the case, Stephen Hopkins QC, said Mr England had ‘single-handedly’ and ‘deliberately’ sabotaged the trial, after ignoring his instructions not to refer to the woman’s sexual history.

Mr England has been suspended from the party pending the matter being presented to the Tories’ candidates committee. Hackett was found guilty at a retrial and jailed for five years.

The Welsh Conservatives said the email contained ‘no new information’ and that the party had no record of the judge’s comments relating to Mr England.