Welsh minister ‘was persistently bullied’
THE Welsh Assembly cabinet member who took his own life after being sacked over claims of sexual harassment had previously been subjected to a campaign of persistent bullying, a close colleague has claimed.
Carl Sargeant was repeatedly “undermined” amid a toxic atmosphere of “minor bullying, mind games, powergames and favouritism” within the corridors of the assembly in Cardiff, said Leyton Andrews, a former minister.
In an account published on his blog yesterday, Mr Andrews effectively accused Carwyn Jones, the Welsh First Minister, of doing nothing to protect his friend, who killed himself on Tuesday, leaving a wife and two children.
Mr Sargeant’s death at 49 came four days after he was sacked as a cabinet secretary for communities and children by Mr Jones, following claims of inappropriate behaviour from at least three women. He was not given details of the allegations, but it later emerged these included “unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping”.
Such is the atmosphere in Cardiff that some have even suggested that the harassment claims may have even been part of a campaign of disinformation against Mr Sargeant.
Mr Andrews criticised the behaviour of Mr Jones and others in the assembly, stating: “There had been deliberate personal undermining of Carl Sargeant from within the Welsh Labour Government over several years.
“I am not going to name names today. But I made a complaint to the First Minister about one aspect of this, of which I had direct evidence, in the autumn of 2014.
“An informal investigation was undertaken. I then asked for it to be made formal. I was told it would be. I was never shown the outcome. There was no due process.”
In a statement last night, Mr Jones said he could not respond, in advance of the coroner’s inquest, to the various claims and “inaccuracies” made since Mr Sargeant’s death.
He said: “I and my team will of course be co-operating fully with any questions that are raised [at the inquest]. The family deserve to have their questions answered and if that isn’t possible through the inquest then I will endeavour to make that happen through other means.”
“I welcome any scrutiny of my actions in the future. 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.”