A WELFARE visit to former AM Carl Sargeant was cancelled on the day he was found hanged at his home, it has emerged.

A pre-inquest hearing heard today that Andy Smith, Labour Party official, was sent by Ian McNicol, now Lord and the then general secretary of the Labour Party, on a support visit to Mr Sargeant on the morning of his death as it was known he was “struggling” with “mental vulnerability.”

The inquest heard how Mr Smith was then asked to “stand down.” Georgina Wolfe, legal representative for the Labour Party at the inquest, was given 21 days for a statement on this news.

Meanwhile, John Gittins, coroner for North Wales East and Central told the court at Ruthin that the inquest into the death of Mr Sargeant will begin on Monday, November 26.

Three days were originally allocated, but this was extended to five on request of the family and legal representatives from the Labour Party and Welsh Government.

Mr Sargeant, 49, father of Jack Sargeant, current AM for Alyn and Deeside, was found dead at his home in Connah’s Quay by his wife, Bernie Sargeant, on Tuesday, November 7.

At a pre-hearing on June 15, Mr Gittins gave a preliminary cause of death of hanging. He also adjourned this hearing to investigate “further inquiries and additional evidence gathering in the background of the independent inquiry.”

Mr Gittins also denied an application by the family to delay the inquest until after the independent inquiry into the actions of Carwyn Jones, First Minister, after he asked Mr Sargeant to step down following allegations of “inappropriate” sexual misconduct.

Leslie Thomas QC, said the family wanted the independent inquiry to be completed before a date for the full inquest is set. He said: “What is the harm in delaying the process of the inquest? It would be premature to plough ahead with this when we know that the evidence has not come in. We do not know what we do not know. It’s the evidence gathering that’s important. I am asking you to delay the inquest until all evidence has been gathered and called in the independent investigation, which will probably be in April.”

Cathryn McGahey, representing the First Minister, called for the inquest to be sooner rather than later, whether or not the independent inquiry was completed. She responded to Mr Thomas: “The call for evidence was July 13 and that window has now closed. If you feel there is a need for a call for public evidence, (Mr Gittins) can call it. But an inquest should take no longer than a year and it should be for a short period. The further away things are, the harder it is (for witnesses) to remember what what happened. One of those things has to go first, the inquest or the investigation.”

Andy Sargeant, the late Mr Sargeant’s brother, said: “Everybody wants it to be done as soon as possible but to get the best result, I think we have to wait.”

Mr Gittins concluded that there is no justifiable reason to delay the inquest and that the recording of the inquest was crucial due to his duty to prevent future deaths.

He added: “The senior coroner said his inquest would be a ‘full and fair examination of the matters which are relevant’ but ‘will not consider the veracity of the allegations made against Mr Sargeant’ nor would he be ‘looking to Cardiff and the Welsh Assembly or the Labour Party and making adjudications as to who is right or wrong and who can be trusted.’"

Mr Gittins said 13 witnesses will be called to give evidence at the inquest, and the written statements of 12 other witnesses will be read out.

The witnesses who will be asked to attend the inquest will be Bernie Sargeant, Jack Sargeant, the GP who dealt with the late Mr Sargeant (to be confirmed), Carwyn Jones, Ken Skates AM, Lesley Griffiths AM, Mark Tami MP, Jessica Sullivan and James Stephenson of Care First, Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Darren Hill, of Positif, Louise McGee, of Welsh Labour, and Lord McNicol.