Labour scraps probe into Welsh minister who killed himself
THE Labour Party has dropped its inquiry into alleged sexual groping by a Welsh minister who killed himself amid fears the allegations were cobbled together in a rush to sack him.
In a leaked letter to their solicitor, the family of Carl Sargeant, 49, have been told the investigation cannot proceed following the politician’s suicide last month.
The Labour Party is also refusing their request to cover any legal fees they have incurred.
Mr Sargeant was found hanged four days after being sacked by the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, over complaints allegedly made by three women about inappropriate groping.
Mr Jones was widely criticised for the way he handled the allegations and for keeping Mr Sargeant in the dark about their exact nature.
He has faced calls to resign and – perhaps in a sign his credibility is waning – it emerged yesterday that he had pulled out of a planned appearance on the BBC’s Question Time tonight.
Sources said that it was ‘simply impossible’ for the Welsh Labour leader to appear on the show in the current climate.
Yesterday the Labour Party revealed that it had received no written evidence of the sexual harassment allegations by the time Mr Sargeant took his own life.
General secretary Iain McNicol said that although the party was made aware verbally of the allegations on Friday November 3 – the day Mr Sargeant was fired from the front bench and suspended from the Labour Party – written statements detailing the claims had still not been received when news of Mr Sargeant’s death emerged the following Tuesday.
In the leaked correspondence Mr McNicol said: ‘Regarding the notice of administrative suspension placed upon Mr Sargeant before his death, I can confirm that the Labour Party acted in accordance with its procedures in this matter.’
Mr Sargeant’s family say he was denied ‘natural justice’ by being immediately sacked, instead of suspended pending an inquiry.
Last night a friend of Mr Sargeant’s told the Daily Mail that there was growing concern that the allegations had been cobbled together by Mr Jones’ office to get rid of him.
‘Our suspicion is that the evidence wasn’t handed over by the First Minister’s office because it didn’t exist,’ the friend said. ‘That’s what we are reading into it: that this was an engineered scandal cooked up by the First Minister and his special advisers because they wanted to get rid of Carl.
‘There appear to have been very few formal statements taken, and almost nothing put in writing. The evidence gathering, such as it was, involved aides of the First Minister speaking to women over the telephone. There was no due process at all.’
While there is no suggestion that Mr Jones or his advisers invented the allegations, friends and colleagues of Mr Sargeant say they have concerns about the way they were handled.
Mr Jones was criticised for getting Matt Greenough, his most senior special adviser, to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the allegations, rather than passing it to the Civil Service for investigation under the ministerial code.
Mr Sargeant’s close friend Darran Hill tweeted: ‘So all of this was done without written statements. No wonder Carl couldn’t find out what he was accused of. He asked again and again. Now we know why he couldn’t get an answer.’