Former Welsh Labour MP acquitted of groping woman on train

Claire Hayhurst and Eleanor Storey, Press Association

A former Labour MP has been acquitted of groping a woman on a train.

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

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

Mr Jones, who was Labour MP for Carmarthen from 1970 to 1974, said he may have touched the woman accidentally but denied assault, insisting he did not have a “sexual motive”.

A unanimous jury acquitted him of the single charge on Tuesday afternoon.

Judge Geraint Walter told the politician: “Mr Jones, you can leave the dock now.”

The judge thanked jurors for their work during the case.

He said he would consider an application by Mr Jones, who did not receive legal aid funding, to recover his privately paid costs.

During the trial, the court heard Mr Jones was a passenger in the first class carriage of the train and had bought two small bottles of red wine on board.

Georgia Donohue, prosecuting, said he later asked the complainant “personal questions” and said she was “very pretty”, which made the woman “uncomfortable”.

It was alleged that Mr Jones touched the woman as she walked backwards through the carriage, towards where he was sitting.

But in police interview, he insisted this was not done intentionally and there was no “sexual motive”, Ms Donohue said.

He told officers that if the touching did happen, it may have been accidental.

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