Sex case councillor, 77, cleared

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A veteran Labour councillor has been cleared of indecent assault on a 28-year-old woman.

Rhondda Cynon Taf councillor Idris Jones, 77, was accused of attacking the single mother after she called his office for help moving home.

The woman claimed Mr Jones put his hand down the back of her jeans and tried to kiss her during the house visit. Mr Jones denied indecent assault.

A unanimous jury at Cardiff Crown Court found him not guilty.

The father-of-four, from Cwmbach near Aberdare, refused to comment as he left court.

A statement had been read in court from Cynon Valley MP Ann Clwyd, who said Mr Jones was "dependable, honest and truthful".

Another witness said Mr Jones was the "perfect gentleman".

'Destroy the trust'

Mr Jones told the jury on Thursday the accusations were a "tissue of lies" that the woman had invented to speed up her application for a new council house.

The woman claimed Mr Jones had touched her leg and put his hand down the back of her jeans when on a visit to her flat.

The mother-of-two asked the councillor to help her move as her ex-partner lived above her and had beaten her up, the court heard.

But Mr Jones told the court: "I'm 77 years old and I don't think about sex like that.

"I am a socialist and a Christian. And at my age I'm not going to destroy the trust so many people have in me by doing something like that - no way."

The jury had previously heard the woman had been charged three times this year for shoplifting and dishonestly trying to cash a neighbour's social security cheque.

Mr Jones is chairman of the board of governors at 644-pupil Aberdare Girls School in Aberdare.

He is also a trustee director of Victim Support and his local Crime Prevention Panel.