Disgraced councillor will not be standing for re-election
ACOUNCILLOR who ended up in court for soliciting a sex worker is not standing for reelection.
Chris Evans, an independent councillor for Rogerstone, Newport, appeared at magistrates’ court in January, pleading guilty to soliciting the services of a prostitute in Commercial Road, Pillgwenlly, in the city. The 56-year-old received a one-year conditional discharge.
Mr Evans’ lawyer told the court his client was already resigned to losing the councillor role – but shortly afterwards the defendant contradicted his representative as he told the Western Mail he had yet to decide on his position, adding: “Don’t push me anymore. Let me have time to have a think. There is no rule that I have to.”
Mr Evans does not appear in the list of candidates for next month’s Newport council election. He resigned from the Newport Independents Party in January. At the time party leader Kevin Whitehead told the Western Mail Mr Evans was a “great councillor and needs time to deal with his mental health”.
The court heard Mr Evans had lost his job as a senior advertising manager for the South Wales Argus newspaper after being caught by police on May 22 last year with a sex worker in his car. Prosecutor Natasha Roberts said his crime was uncovered by an officer who was on duty at around 9.15pm.
She added: “The officer was chasing [ a wanted man] on foot. He entered West Market Street and continued to look for the man. When the officer was in the middle of the road, the defendant’s car passed him and pulled up on the side of the junction. The officer walked up to the vehicle to check if the wanted male had been seen by the driver. He recognised the driver as a local councillor, having been in meetings with him.”
When Mr Evans lowered his window and said hello, the officer replied: “Hello, you’re Chris, the Rogerstone councillor.”
The officer then noticed a woman in the passenger seat. From his work with charities, he recognised her as a victim of sexual exploitation.
The officer asked why the woman was in Mr Evans’ car, to which the councillor stuttered and replied: “Er yeah, I work with her as part of my role with the Wallich.”
The officer described Mr Evans’ tone as “unconvincing”.
Police later checked Mr Evans’ claim. The Wallich charity, which supports vulnerable people, said Mr Evans had no role with them. And the woman who had been in the car told police Mr Evans was a “punter”.
Rod Young, mitigating, said: “He’ll never know why he did what he did that night. It was a lapse of judgement, it was a moment of madness, is how he described it.
“He has hitherto been an elected representative, a city councillor for Rogerstone, a respected and highly thought-of member of the community.
“He is a person who has helped umpteen and countless people, not only in his constituency but also further afield in the Newport area, and also prostitutes and homeless people in the Pill area, which is ironically why he was known to the officer who identified him.”
He made reference to experiencing addiction issues and going through “recovery”, though he declined to go into detail. He said he had resigned from his role as a council-appointed governor at Bassaleg School and High Cross Primary.
Mr Evans was first elected to Newport council in 2012. He was originally a member of the Labour Party but became an independent councillor after he was suspended from the party in 2016 following a row over green space. He has been approached for comment on the upcoming election.
The following candidates are standing in the area in next month’s elections: Shopon Chowdhury (Liberal Democrat), Bev Davies (Labour) and Toby Jones (Conservative) for Rogerstone East; Jonathan Gibbons (Labour) and Chris Reeks (Conservative) for Rogerstone North; and Graham John Berry (Conservative), Yvonne Forsey (Labour), Andrew Richard Hill (Conservative), Liz Newton (Liberal Democrat) and John Reynolds (Labour) for Rogerstone West.