Neil Hamilton calls on First Minister to resign over handling of Carl Sargeant allegations

Wales
Politics
Wednesday 8 November 2017 at 3:15pm

Credit: ITV News / PA

UKIP Wales Leader has called on the First Minister to resign.

Neil Hamilton has issued a statement saying that Carwyn Jones' sacking of Carl Sargeant was both 'heartless and in breach of the most fundamental principle of natural justice - giving the accused the right to defend himself'.

Following Mr. Sargeant's death yesterday, his family have released an email and a letter that his solicitor sent to the Labour party.

In the email his solicitor complained about what First Minister Carwyn Jones had said in television interviews on Monday. In the letter, the solicitor says he'd been led to believe that the allegations were of "unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping" and that Mr Sargeant categorically denied any such allegations.

Now that we know the relative triviality and contestability of the allegations ('unwanted attention' and 'touching') made against Carl Sergeant, it is clear that his summary dismissal was both heartless and in breach of the most fundamental principle of natural justice - giving the accused the right to defend himself. By publicly sacking Carl without giving him details of the allegations, he subjected Carl to trial by innuendo and left him to twist in the wind. Carwyn Jones is an experienced criminal law barrister and must be held to the highest standards of due process. He acted disproportionately and without human sympathy. The First Minister failed to fulfil his duty of care to Carl Sergeant. The intolerable mental anguish which that failure caused led directly to Carl's suicide. The First Minister should accept his personal responsibility and resign.