Tory defends candidate who collapsed a rape trial and criticises the judge

Martin Shipton

A passionate supporter of Andrew RT Davies has criticised a judge who rebuked a Tory candidate for sabotaging a rape trial, arguing that the ex-candidate had been unfairly pilloried.

Huw Davies, a former chairman of Newport West Conservatives, has published a blog post in which he states that Ross England, who collapsed a rape trial in 2018, should not be excluded from public life.

He also claims that he knows the identity of the person behind the toxic X account Doge Wales – and that it is not Mr England.

Mr England, a former aide to Cabinet Minister Alun Cairns, was suspended and later deselected after collapsing the rape trial.

Judge Stephen Hopkins stated in open court that England had “managed singlehandedly” to sabotage the trial of his friend, James Hackett, by disclosing prohibited information about the victim’s sexual history.

The judge had previously ruled that any information about the victim’s sexual history was inadmissible.

He asked England: “Why did you say that? Are you completely stupid? You have managed, singlehandedly, and I have no doubt it was deliberate on your part, to sabotage this trial”.

The trial was forced to collapse. Hackett was later found guilty of rape at a retrial in August 2018 and jailed for five years.

The scandal led to the resignation of Mr Cairns as Welsh Secretary in November 2019, amid allegations he was aware of England’s role in the trial’s collapse before recommending him as a candidate.

In his blog post published on January 26 2026, Huw Davies quotes Oliver Batt, a colleague of Mr England at the time and a friend, stating: “Online separatists routinely treat the judge’s ‘sabotage’ line as though it were a ruling or finding of fact. It wasn’t. It was an intemperate and unevidenced outburst from the bench.

“In a normal part of the country, anyone serious about the truth would ask a basic question: if a judge genuinely believed a prosecution witness had deliberately collapsed a rape trial, why was that witness not pursued for contempt? No charge, no proceedings, no conviction. A large part of the Welsh media, in my view, avoided that question because they wanted a line of attack on the Conservatives and to try to scalp a Cabinet minister. Alun Cairns would have been largely unscathed if the debate had been about whether the collapse was deliberate in the first place, because it obviously wasn’t.

“To believe it was deliberate, you have to believe Ross was willing to risk contempt proceedings to collapse a repeatable trial for someone he didn’t know well and, from my own impression, didn’t seem to like particularly – and then explain why he was never charged. It’s nonsense.

“ … “I think the judge was livid that the case had collapsed on his watch. His unprofessional outburst should be read in that context. If he had any confidence in his heat-of-the-moment theory about sabotage, he would have rightly brought contempt proceedings. Ironically, testing it would likely have kept Ross in politics, because the case would have fallen apart. Instead, the false accusation went on the public record and there was no follow-up in which Ross could correct it.

“There’s no reason Ross should be barred from public life.”

Trauma

The collapse of the trial cost many thousands of pounds and prolonged the trauma of the rape victim – matters considered unworthy of attention by Huw Davies and Mr Batt.

Huw Davies also writes about the anonymity of the Doge Wales X account, which has become notorious for its racist and misogynistic posts. He states: “Batt knows who Senedd Waste [the alternative title for Doge Wales] is. (Full disclosure, so do I.) It is not Ross England.”

He does not. however, reveal the identity of Doge Wales, alleging that Nation.Cymru misnamed the man behind the account as Ross England.

In fact, Nation.Cymru published an opinion piece in September 2025 which reproduced the text of an email sent to Andrew RT Davies. It stated: “Multiple sources have told us that the Doge Wales X account is managed by Ross England, who as you know collapsed a rape trial. As someone who regularly interacts with Doge Wales, do you know if that is the case?

“If it isn’t the case, do you know who runs the account?

“Clearly you share similar and sometimes identical views with Doge Wales on your pet subjects such as Senedd expansion and the Nation of Sanctuary. You and the account repost each other’s posts.

“Clearly, also, a significant amount of money goes into supporting Doge Wales, which now has its own YouTube channel. Do you know its source of funds?

“If the person behind Doge Wales is Mr England, do you think it is appropriate for you to interact with the account, given his history.

“If you don’t know the identity of the person running Doge Wales, don’t you think you should make it your business to find out, as an inappropriate association could be reputationally damaging for you.

“I am writing an article about this matter and would be grateful for a response today.”

Andrew RT Davies did not respond.

Striking

Mark Hooper, lead candidate for Plaid Cymru for the super constituency of Pen Y Bont Bro Morgannwg said: “What’s most striking about this whole episode is how much effort is being put to clear the name of someone whose actions were identified by the trial judge as having ‘sabotaged’ a rape trial. Our women and girls deserve better than this.

“The identity of the DOGE Wales poster doesn’t keep me up at night. Sniping from the sidelines behind a cloak of anonymity isn’t serious politics; it’s cowardice. Wales needs those willing to engage in a battle of ideas like never before, and I for one, won’t waste time and energy on someone playing hide and seek. It’s pathetic.”