Laura Anne Jones to face no further action by police over mileage claims

Emily Price

A Welsh Conservative MS who was facing allegations of falsifying mileage for her expenses claims will face no further action by police, Nation.Cymru has been told.

Laura Anne Jones was stripped of her shadow cabinet position in June after WhatsApp messages appeared to show a member of staff being asked: "When doing petrol thing - always make more than I did – add in stuff please ok."

The Senedd Standard's Commissioner Douglas Bain launched a probe following a complaint about Ms Jones but put it on hold whilst South Wales Police carried out their own investigation into the messages.

A solicitor speaking on behalf the MS for South Wales East previously said she was "satisfied that any allegations in relation to impropriety surrounding expenses are entirely misconceived".

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No action

On Monday (October 7), a reliable source told Nation.Cymru the police force would be taking no further action against Ms Jones because no evidence of wrongdoing was found.

It is understood the investigation has now been handed back to the the Standards Commissioner to continue his probe.

Although Ms Jones was suspended from the shadow culture brief, Tory Senedd group leader Andrew RT Davies did not remove the party whip.

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Confidential

It is understood that he is waiting for both investigations to reach a conclusion before taking any action.

The Standards Commissioner is an independent person appointed by the Welsh Parliament to investigate complaints about the conduct of Members of the Senedd.

The process is highly confidential with no details made public until the Commissioner has reached a conclusion.

A spokesperson for Laura Anne Jones said: "Laura has always denied the allegations against her. She has continued working as normal in the Senedd and in her region, and she is out and about working for her constituents today."

South Wales Police were invited to comment.