‘Not appropriate’ to discuss allegations at time, First Minister tells inquest

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones has told an inquest into the death of cabinet minister Carl Sargeant it would have been wrong to tell him the details of allegations made against him.

Mr Jones had made the decision to remove Mr Sargeant, 49, from the post of cabinet secretary for communities and children on November 3 last year following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Four days later the politician was found hanged at his home in Connah’s Quay, Deeside, by his wife Bernadette.

Carl Sargeant was sacked following rumours about his behaviour
Carl Sargeant was sacked following rumours about his behaviour

He had not been told who or exactly what he was accused of but had denied the allegations to others.

Giving evidence on the third day of the inquest, at Ruthin County Hall, Mr Jones said it would have been “wrong” to give Mr Sargeant the details of the allegations and said he would have been able to work out who had made the complaints from the information.

“It was inevitable there would have been an investigation at that stage, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to speak to Carl at that time,” he said.

He added that when he told Mr Sargeant he was being sacked over the “bombshell” allegations, he told him he “did not recognise them”.

He said: “It’s not an outright denial. It was an unusual thing to say.”

Mr Sargeant’s son Jack and his wife Bernadette, who attended the inquest
Mr Sargeant’s son Jack and his wife Bernadette, who attended the inquest

The inquest was told there were text messages between the leader and deputy leader of Flintshire County Council, Aaron Shotton and Bernie Attridge, in which Mr Attridge said Mr Sargeant would be “shitting bricks”.

Cathryn McGahey QC, representing the First Minister, said in the message, sent on November 1, Mr Attridge referred to MPs in Westminster being exposed and said AMs would be “on the hitlist”.

In a message sent two days after Mr Sargeant was sacked, Mr Attridge said he wished to discourage members of the local Labour Party from supporting Mr Sargeant and implied he had done something which could lead to imprisonment, Ms McGahey said.

Coroner for North Wales (East and Central) John Gittins ruled he would not hear evidence from witnesses relating to the messages.

The court heard that in 2014 Mr Jones received an anonymous letter which said Mr Sargeant was “not fit to be around women”.

The First Minister said he showed the letter to Mr Sargeant and told him to “be careful”.

“There is obviously somebody who is watching you and watching your behaviour so be careful and be careful where you go and how much you drink,” he said.

He added that Mr Sargeant would “quite often drink a fair bit” and kept company with a “hard-drinking bunch”.

Mr Jones said that in 2016 another allegation was reported to him but that the woman involved did not want to make a complaint so he did not inform Mr Sargeant.

In 2017 he initially heard rumours of inappropriate behaviour towards two women by Mr Sargeant and later learned their names and received written statements.

Mr Jones said he felt it was “right” to contact the woman who made an allegation in 2016 and ask again if she wanted to make a formal complaint as other circumstances had come to light.

He told the court he had not been aware Mr Sargeant suffered from depression.

Mr Jones was asked by the coroner whether there had been any changes in terms of the support offered to ministers who lost their roles since Mr Sargeant’s death.

He said: “The difficulty is this – the answer to the question is no – formally there is no employment relationship between the Welsh Government and ministers.”

The inquest is expected to continue until Friday.

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