Suicide of Carl Sargeant
Sargeant committed suicide after finding himself mired in allegations of improper behaviour towards women, and died not knowing what the claims were or who had made them.
But he did know that the suggestion he had been responsible for “unwelcome attention, inappropriate touching or groping” was already in the media, and had had to watch as the First Minister Carwyn Jones – who had just sacked him from his post in the Welsh Labour cabinet – went on the BBC to discuss what were now being termed ‘incidents’.
Distressed and already on medication for depression, Sargeant took his own life in the utility room of his Connah’s Quay home.
The inquest into his death shed light on what Coroner John Gittins described as the “murkiest” side of politics. It revealed a world in which high profile political figures could be cast out without even being told what they had done wrong, left to be blinded by the full glare of the media spotlight and offered virtually no support from those with whom they’d worked closely for years.
The coroner’s issue of a Regulation 28 notice puts an onus on the Welsh government to prevent future deaths of the nature of Sargeant’s. It is the first time such a notice has been issued by a coroner directly to a government in respect of the death of a serving government minister. And it comes at the end of a process which, through its delays and legal challenges, has placed incredible strain on the loved ones still reeling at the loss of the man around whom the whole family unit was built.
The Allegations
Sargeant’s world began to quickly unravel on November 3, 2017, as he travelled to Cardiff for a cabinet reshuffle meeting.
Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside and the Communities Minister at the time, Sargeant had worked in a chemical factory, become a fireman, and, as his wife, Bernadette, describes, decided “I think I can do that” and set off to pursue a career in politics.
Although he was a high profile politician, “he thought politics was politics and family was family. He kept the two separate”.
But his public and private lives were about to become tragically entangled, with devastating consequences for him, his family, friends and colleagues.What Carl Sargeant’s family say about ‘dehumanising’ inquest process
Carl Sargeant and Carwyn Jones in Connah’s Quay
In October 2017, rumours of his alleged impropriety circulated. It was labelled “unwelcome attention, inappropriate touching or groping” of women. First Minister Carwyn Jones dispatched special advisor Matt Greenhough to speak to the women involved.
Mr Greenhough was a person who, according to North Wales East and Central Coroner John Gittins, had “no qualifications, or skills in witness statement taking or evidence gathering, nor any training in the particular sensitivities associated with allegations of a sexual nature”.
The woman were prepared to put their complaints in writing. Carwyn Jones referred it to the Labour Party and took the decision to remove him as a cabinet minister.
Sacking
Before he went to Cardiff, Sargeant told his wife of 29 years, “it’s happening”.
He had been dogged by depression since a “significant life event”, and “may have anticipated” he would lose his post. What was not clear, said the coroner, was whether he knew of the allegations beforehand.
The Coroner concluded Sargeant committed suicide
Comment from Steve Jones
Jones, who was the first minister’s special adviser for five years, said Sargeant, who took his own life following allegations of harassment, was upset by the “mind games” that went on within the government.
Jones private sector experience includes providing strategic, political, communications and crisis management advice for clients both in the UK.
He is a close friend of David Taylor, the director and sole employee of a company that had an £885,000 increase in the cash it held in one financial year.
The company does “Public Relations” and has only existed for just over four years.
Jones’s remarks follow allegations by the former Welsh minister Leighton Andrews that Sargeant was undermined from within the Labour government for several years.
David Taylor
On the day before his death, Ms Howe received a text message from David Taylor, a friend of Sargeant, asking how to program a text message to be sent at a later time.
Ms Howe told the coroner she then became concerned Sargeant was planning to take his own life. Taylor’s text is an important event since it suggests he had knowledge of his close friend Sergeant’s intent to commit suicide.
Over to the Chinese affair
David Taylor, the partner of Labour MP, Joani Reid, was detained by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of spying for China. and is being held under the National Security Act. Two other men were arrested on Wednesday morning – Matthew Aplin, 43, from Pontyclun, South Wales, and Steve Jones, 68, from Powys, Wales. All three suspects, who were held on suspicion of
assisting Chinese intelligence, are connected to the Labour Party.
David Taylor may have been a client of Positif Politics, according to messages from the former director, Daran Hill.
Mathew Aplin’s profile has recently been scrubbed from the Camlas website.
The Wendy Wind Farm intrigue is of interest to Dan Hill who probes
Daran Hill@daranhill: I’m writing about Hendy wind farm. Do you want to tell me how you got involved. And your relationship with David Taylor.
Yesterday, 10:26 am: I don’t work on Hendy wind farm
Yesterday, 10:28 am: But you work for Grayling Capital / Bute Energy.
Yesterday, 10:38 am s/For Bute yes but I haven’t worked on Hendy
Yesterday, 10:38 am: Your e-mail to Penybont and Llandegley community council mentions Bute and Grayling
Yesterday, 10:47 am: v”I’m retained by Bute Or rather Positif is
Yesterday, 10:48 amL But you are Positif. The e-mail to the council was in your name. David Taylor is also involved with those involved with Powys wind turbines – he’s even a shareholder in Windward Enterprises – and I know you two are fairly close, so are you working together? Do you have contact details for him?
Yesterday, 11:53 am: v’:Yep the email was in my name as the lead person in Positif working on the Bute Energy account. The email was drafted in response to a specific query.
Yesterday, 12:11 pm. How can I contact David Taylor?
Yesterday, 12:14 pm: I don’t give out client contact details sorry
Yesterday, 1:34 pm: Fair enough. I didn’t realise he was a client of yours.
Yesterday, 1:41 pm: V Camlas V https://camlas.wales Matthew Aplin. Matt has been involved in public affairs and communications for nearly 20 years.
caltonjock 