Carwyn Jones calls for inquiry into death of Carl Sargeant

Liz Bates

Carwyn Jones has asked for an independent inquiry to be held into the death of former Welsh minister Carl Sargeant.



According to the BBC, the Welsh First Minister has called for the investigation to examine his own "actions and decisions" in the wake of allegations made about Mr Sargeant's "personal conduct".

Mr Sargeant's body was discovered at his home in Connah Quay, North Wales, on Tuesday.

The former communities and children secretary was sacked from the Welsh Cabinet four days earlier by Mr Jones following unspecified allegations made against him.

His family have insisted that Mr Sargeant had protested his innocence, and criticised the Labour party for failing to reveal the full details of the allegations he faced.

In the days following his colleague’s death, Mr Jones came in for intense criticism, but yesterday he welcomed an inquiry into his actions, saying in a statement: "The family deserve to have their questions answered and if that isn’t possible through an inquest then I will endeavour to ensure that that happens through other means.

A spokesman for the First Minister said today: "Further to the first minister's comments yesterday about the need for independent scrutiny of his actions and decisions in relation to Carl Sargeant, he agrees that there should be an independent inquiry and it would be proper to ask a senior QC to lead that work.

"To ensure this happens separately from his office, the first minister has asked the permanent secretary to begin preparatory work for this inquiry, and to make contact with the family to discuss the terms of reference and the identity of the QC.

"It is our understanding that such an inquiry should not take place before the outcome of a coroner's inquest - but we will take further advice on this matter."

Labour shadow minister Dawn Butler insisted earlier this week Labour had acted properly throughout, despite earlier suggesting mistakes had been made.

Speaking on Radio 5Live, she said: "There needs to be an independent professional body that comes out and investigates what happened in that circumstance, because it doesn’t sound as though everything that should have happened, happened."

But in a statement afterwards, Ms Butler said: "After giving an interview this morning, I have looked further into the process followed in this case. I am satisfied that the appropriate process was followed, including preserving the anonymity of alleged victims at this stage of the process, and therefore do not feel an investigation is required."