Fury of Carl Sargeant's family after suicide: relatives say he was kept in dark over 'groping' claims before his death

The family of Welsh politician Carl Sargeant say Labour kept him in the dark over the claims that were being levelled at him
Former Welsh government minister Carl Sargeant has been found dead after allegations were made about his behaviour
Fiona Simpson8 November 2017
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Former Welsh Assembly member Carl Sargeant killed himself after being kept in the dark over claims of “unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping” levelled at him before his death, his family said today.

Relatives today claimed he had not been properly informed of the claims against him, leaving Mr Sargeant "unable to properly defend himself".

The lack of information meant he was not afforded "common courtesy, decency or natural justice,” they added.

The Labour politician was found dead yesterday after being sacked from his role as communities and children secretary in the Welsh Government amid an investigation into his personal conduct.

A family spokesman said: "Up to the point of his tragic death on Tuesday morning Carl was not informed of any of the detail of the allegations against him, despite requests and warnings regarding his mental welfare.

"The correspondence also discloses the solicitor's concern that media appearances by the First Minister on Monday were prejudicing the inquiry.

"The family wish to disclose the fact that Carl maintained his innocence and he categorically denied any wrongdoing.

"The distress of not being able to defend himself properly against these unspecified allegations meant he was not afforded common courtesy, decency or natural justice."

He was accused on Monday of a series of allegations involving women and lost his senior cabinet role in the Welsh government last Friday.

He had called for an urgent investigation to clear his name.

In a letter and email sent to the Labour Party on Monday, Mr Sargeant's solicitor Huw Bowden made clear that the Alyn & Deeside AM "categorically denied" any wrongdoing and appealed to the party to provide details of the accusations against him.

He noted the party had confirmed that no "parallel investigations" - such as a police inquiry - were being conducted.

Writing the day before the 49-year-old's death, Mr Bowden warned that the case was causing Mr Sargeant anxiety and distress and that any delays in concluding the party's investigation would be "prejudicial ... to his physical and mental well-being".

Mr Bowden complained that broadcast interviews by Carwyn Jones, in which the Welsh First Minister said he had been informed of "a number of incidents" relating to Mr Sargeant's behaviour with women, were prejudicing the inquiry.

Mr Sargeant was facing "serious and career-threatening allegations" and was "anxious to ensure his name and the reputation of the Labour Party is preserved", said the Cardiff-based solicitor, who urged the party to cover the AM's legal costs.

The family statement came after questions were raised about the investigation into Mr Sargeant.

Labour Assembly Member Jenny Rathbone said: "It is a basic fairness that you have got to know what the accusations are against you in order to be able to respond but that doesn't mean to say we don't need to take allegations seriously, we obviously do.

"Other people say that even yesterday morning he did not know what the allegations were.

"It must have been devastating for him in the last few days.

"He was front page headlines for all the wrong reasons. It is all very tragic."

Labour's women and equalities spokeswoman Dawn Butler initially issued a call for an investigation into how Welsh Labour handled the case, telling BBC Radio 5 Live that "it doesn't sound as though everything that should have happened, happened".

But less than an hour later Ms Butler released a statement saying no investigation was needed.

"I have looked further into the process followed in this case. I am satisfied that the appropriate process was followed."

She added: "I don’t know what happened and how it transpired and how it was handled. But the Labour party’s process is that once there’s an allegation, the person is supposed to be told what that allegation is, because otherwise they’re not able to produce a defence on the issue. So I’m not sure what happened, but the procedure definitely is [that] you’re supposed to be told what the allegation is."

The Labour Party have been contacted for comment.

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