Police U-turn on decision to end investigation into Tory MS' expenses

Emily Price

South Wales Police have U-turned on a decision to end an investigation into Welsh Conservative MS Laura Anne Jones.

A source told Nation Cymru on Monday (October 7) that the force were no longer probing allegations that the MS had falsified mileage for her expenses claims.

However, further leaked correspondence appears to show that the case will remain open after "new information" came to light today.

It's understood that the new development will be looked at by a senior officer alongside previous evidence.

A South Wales Police spokesperson said the force are "unable to provide an update at this time".

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Petrol

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 officers carried out their own investigation into the messages.

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.

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'Misconceived'

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”.

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

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

Laura Anne Jones was invited to comment.