Following today’s statement to the Senedd by the First Minister, the family of Carl Sargeant have released the following statement through their lawyers, Hudgell Solicitors:
“We would like to thank the First Minister for his statement today, the Welsh Government for the contribution they have made to our legal fees and Sir Brendan Barber for his role as a mediator in this process.
“As a family, we have come to realise that the inquiry process would be unlikely to give us the answers we seek. So, enough is enough. We must draw a line under everything and let our grieving process begin. We also have no desire to distract the Welsh Government at a time of national crisis.
“Two and half tortuous years have passed since Carl’s death, yet during the worst of times we have been supported by many people. We want to thank the inquiry chair Paul Bowen for his work. We’d also like to send our heartfelt thanks to our legal team, Leslie Thomas QC, Neil Hudgell and Victoria Richardson of Hudgell Solicitors, and our PR adviser Kerry Jack for their unfailing support throughout.
“Finally, we echo words Carl used many times: “Edrych ar ol ein gilydd” / “look after each other.”
Neil Hudgell of Hudgell Solicitors represents the Sargeant family. He says: “It has been an honour to represent this honest and thoroughly decent family through such a harrowing period of their lives. While feeling a great sense of frustration that answers to some questions will never be found, I hope they can now find some sense of closure in calling a halt to proceedings.”