Image caption Ross England has been suspended from his job with the Conservatives

A former Tory candidate has said it is "highly improbable" key figures in the party did not know about Ross England's role in a collapsed rape trial.

Luke Evetts, who is no longer a member, said damage to the party's reputation over the case was "significant".

Mr England was selected to stand for the Conservatives in the next assembly election months after he was accused of sabotaging the trial.

Top party figures deny knowledge of his involvement before this week.

Ross England, who also worked for the party, was suspended by the Conservatives from his employment and his candidacy this week after reports of the trial emerged in the press.

In witness evidence in April 2018 Mr England made claims about the victim's sexual history, which she denies.

The judge in the trial, Stephen Hopkins, said he had "no doubt it was deliberate on [his] part, to sabotage this trial". The defendant, James Hackett, was convicted following a retrial.

"In my experience of the management of the party, I find it highly improbable that the key triumvirate of Byron (Davies), Craig (Williams) and Alun (Cairns) didn't know about Ross's actions," Mr Evetts said.

The former party activist, who stood for the Conservatives twice in Ceredigion and was chairman of the Ceredigion Conservative Association, added: "If they didn't, they are incompetent. If they did know, they must face the music."

Lord Davies of Gower, chairman of the Welsh Conservatives, has said that neither he nor Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns knew about the way the trial collapsed.

Image caption Luke Evetts stood for the Conservatives twice in Ceredigion and was chairman of the Ceredigion Conservative Association

On BBC One's Wales Live programme on Wednesday, former Conservative MP Craig Williams, who has worked in the party's HQ in Cardiff, said he had not known about what had happened until it was reported in the media this week.

Sources have told BBC Wales that Mr Cairns was informed about what happened at the trial before Ross England was chosen as a candidate in December last year.

Leaflets in support of Mr Cairns, and bearing Mr England's name in small print, were sent to homes in the Vale of Glamorgan on Thursday.

The Welsh Conservatives said: "The leaflets were printed and produced prior to the details of the case coming into the public domain. Those leaflets have now been withdrawn."

The BBC has been told that Mr England was Mr Cairns' campaign manager until he was suspended this week.

The victim in the trial was also a former member of staff at the constituency office of Mr Cairns.

On Thursday, three days after BBC Wales reported the story, Lord Davies said he could "categorically state" that he and Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns were "completely unaware of the details of the collapse of this trial until they became public this week".