AM left note apologising for letting his family down, inquest told
AN ASSEMBLY Member accused of sexual misconduct left a note for his family apologising for letting them down, his inquest has heard.
Carl Sargeant, 49, was found hanged by his wife Bernadette at the family home in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire, on November 7, 2017, four days after being sacked from his role as Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children.
The father-of-two was also suspended from the Labour Party over allegations of “unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping”.
At the first day of his inquest at Ruthin County Hall yesterday, coroner for North Wales (East and Central) John Gittins read a statement from police constable Siwan Hughes, who was called to Mr Sargeant’s home after paramedics certified him dead at 11.30am.
Pc Hughes said Mrs Sargeant told police she had found a note on the door of the utility room, where Mr Sargeant was found, telling her not to go in and to call the police.
Another note, left next to his body, was addressed to his wife, children and family and friends, the court heard. In it, he apologised for letting them down and asked them to forgive him.
The note said: “You deserve none of this adverse publicity because of my acts. I have failed you.
“That aside, I love you more than you will ever know and I’m sorry I’ve taken the easy way out, leaving you with my s***.”
Family members including his son Jack, who replaced his father as Alyn and Deeside AM, were at the hearing.
His family say he was not told the details of what he was accused of and was unable to properly defend himself.
Former Welsh Government minister Leighton Andrews told the inquest that interviews given by First Minister Carwyn Jones on November 6 about a cabinet reshuffle had affected Mr Sargeant.
He said: “They had a significant impact on his state of mind. I was told they had fuelled his despair.”
He said he did not understand why Mr Jones had given the “inappropriate” and “irresponsible” TV interviews after the matter had been handed to the Labour Party for formal investigation.
Mr Andrews said that in his interviews, the First Minister, who is due to give evidence to the inquest tomorrow, referred to “incidents” rather than allegations.
The inquest heard Mr Sargeant had first gone to his GP with symptoms of depression in 2012, following an event involving a family member, and was prescribed anti-depressants.
In July 2016, he returned to the doctor with symptoms of depression and was again given medication, which he continued to be prescribed up until his death.
Sophie Howe, who worked as a policy and political adviser to Mr Sargeant between 2009 and 2013, told the inquest he was incredibly passionate about his work as a minister, and was “more intelligent than some people gave him credit for”.
She said she and her husband became good friends with Mr and Mrs Sargeant and he would confide in her about his “struggles” with his mental health. She said she saw a “deterioration” in his mental health in the last five or six months of his life.
Mrs Howe told the court she received a text message from a friend called David Taylor at about 6am on Tuesday, November 7 – the day Mr Sargeant died – which included a screen-grab of a message he had received the night before from him.
In the message, Mr Sargeant had asked his friend how to programme a phone to send out a text at a specified time, in this case at 10am on the Tuesday. Mrs Howe said she was concerned about the content of message from Mr Sargeant and rang him to ask him why he wanted to know.
She said: “He sounded spaced out. He kept saying ‘I just wanted to know.’”
Mrs Howe told the court that later that morning she was going into a meeting when a group message from Mr Sargeant popped up on her phone saying “I love you all”.
She said she thought the text had been to thank his friends for their support and she went into the meeting – but in the meeting she began to reflect on the message, and became concerned about what it meant. She said she began to panic, and left the meeting to try to contact Mr Sargeant.
Mrs Howe told the court she rang the AM’s mobile phone a number of times but it went to answerphone. She then called his landline.
She said: “I am not sure who answered but the paramedics were there, and they were working on Carl.”
The inquest heard Mrs Howe was probably the last person to speak to Mr Sargeant before he died.
An independent investigation by the Welsh Government, ordered by the First Minister, has stalled due to Mr Sargeant’s family being granted a judicial review over how it will operate.
The inquest is expected to last until Friday.