Former Labour MP denies groping woman on train

A former Labour MP for Carmarthen allegedly groped a woman on a train, a court has heard.

Gwynoro Jones, 83, denies sexually assaulting a woman on the Great Western Railway service from London to Swansea in July 2024.

A trial at Swansea Crown Court on Monday heard Jones had told the woman she was “very pretty” and asked whether she was married, before he allegedly “tapped her on the bottom”.

Jones, who was Labour MP for Carmarthen from 1970 to 1974, said he may have touched the woman by accident but denies the assault and says he did not have a “sexual motive”.

The court heard Jones was a passenger in the first class carriage of the train and had bought two small bottles of red wine on board prior to the incident.

Georgia Donohue, prosecuting, said the defendant and the complainant had had an initial interaction with “no issue”.

She said: “Later on she passed him again and at this point he grabbed hold of her arm.

“As he grabbed hold of her right arm, he began to stroke her arm up and down with his hand.”

Later in the journey, she said the defendant began to ask her “personal questions”.

She said: “(He asked) if she had a boyfriend, if she was married, he asked her where she lived.

“He also went on to say that she was ‘very pretty’.

“She was very uncomfortable with this interaction.”

The alleged assault occurred as the woman was walking backwards through the carriage, towards where Jones was sitting.

Ms Donohue said: “As she was walking backwards the defendant had his hand out into the carriageway where she was walking so that she walked backwards into his hand.

“He then tapped her on her bottom with his bare hand.”

The jury heard Jones told police in interview that he had chatted with the complainant but denied the offence and said he had not been “flirting”.

Ms Donohue said: “He said he didn’t intentionally touch her on the buttocks and didn’t have any sexual motive to touch her.

“The defendant denies intentionally touching her on the bottom but says if he did it may have been accidental.”

The trial at Swansea Crown Court continues.