Welsh Assembly candidate is suspended by Tories after judge accuses him of deliberately sabotaging his friend’s rape trial by saying the victim had taken part in group sex

A Conservative election candidate has been suspended by the party after a judge accused him of ‘deliberately sabotaging’ a rape trial.

Ross England, 32, was giving evidence in the trial at Cardiff Crown Court of a friend accused of rape when he claimed the victim had taken part in group sex – and led to the case being halted.

Eight months later Mr England, a former aide to Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns, was selected as the candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan for the forthcoming Welsh Assembly election in 2021.

But the Tories suspended him last night and have now launched an investigation.

Mr England was a witness in the trial of his friend James Hackett, 31, when he told the court about the woman’s sexual history – saying she had previously engaged in ‘group sex’.

However, the judge had previously ruled any information about the victim’s alleged past was inadmissible because it was not relevant to the case.

Judge Stephen Hopkins QC told Mr England: ‘Why did you say that? Are you completely stupid?’ You have managed, single-handedly, and I have no doubt it was deliberate on your part, to sabotage this trial.

‘Mr England, as far as I am concerned, this matter so far as you are concerned isn’t ended. I shall be writing personal letters to people who are politically close to you and I hope they take appropriate action. Get out of my court.’

The trial was suspended, but Hackett was found guilty at a retrial and jailed for five years. Subsequently Mr England, who has posed for pictures with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, had been chosen as a Tory candidate.

Labour MP Jo Stevens said: ‘Both he, and the secretary of state who endorsed this individual as a candidate, have serious questions to answer about why this man is a Tory candidate.’ 

She told the House of Commons yesterday that the judge said Mr England had ‘single-handedly’ and ‘deliberately’ sabotaged the trial.

Mr Johnson said it would be ‘inappropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings’ when asked by her if he would sack Mr England from the party.

But last night, the chairman of the Welsh Conservatives, Lord Davies of Gower, said Mr England had been suspended from the party.

Lord Gower said: ‘Ross England has been suspended pending this matter being presented to the candidates committee.’ 

Former Conservative leadership candidate Stephen Crabb MP said: ‘Clearly someone needs to look into it.’

‘I don’t know all the details of it but clearly there needs to be some kind of process to look at these allegations and make a decision about it.

‘It’s with cases like this that it’s really important for the party in London and in Cardiff to show that it’s got a clear process for handling complaints.

‘If a complaint does get made about Mr England it is important that we show there’s a fair process for adjudicating on that.’

Speaking to BBC Wales, the rape victim said: ‘It is completely shocking to me that Ross England would stand up in court and say these things given that they are untrue’.

‘He was asked if we worked together, and the answer to that is yes. Nobody asked him if we were in a sexual relationship or not. 

‘For him to just blurt that out proves to me that it was a formulated plan that he and whoever else conjured to try and derail the trial.

‘I think it was an absolutely deliberate attempt to sabotage the trial.’ 

The court case could only be reported now because Hackett was trying to appeal the conviction but his request for an appeal hearing was not granted.

A spokesman for Mr Cairns said he had not been informed of the court case.

He said: ‘Mr Cairns received no communication at any point from the court regarding this case. This is a matter for the individual as he was not employed by Mr Cairns at the point of case collapse or at his subsequent selection.’