'Groping' civil servant resigns

Graham Evans was ordered to pay his colleague damages

A civil servant who was found in court to have sexually harassed a female Welsh Assembly Government colleague has resigned, it has been confirmed.

Highways manager Graham Evans, 54, from Caerphilly, had also been ordered to pay Christine Davies, 52, damages.

At January's county court hearing he denied groping her, assault outside a pub toilet and making lewd comments.

After the case a fresh assembly inquiry was ordered. An earlier review there found "insufficient evidence" to act.

A spokesperson for the assembly government confirmed on Saturday that Mr Evans has resigned.

What I want to do now is reach out to other people, victims in all workplaces, and make them they realise that they have to stand up and be counted Christine Davies, speaking after January's county court hearing

The second assembly inquiry is continuing into the incident. It was demanded by the assembly government's permanent secretary Sir Jon Shortridge after the court case.

Sir Jon said at the time he was "very concerned" the court hearing had reached a different conclusion to the assembly government's own internal investigation.

He said the independent legal review would provide evidence on which he could decide whether any "further action I should take in this case and whether our procedures need to be changed and improved because of it".

'Continually harassed'

At January's hearing Mrs Davies, from Penarth, told how she was "continually harassed" and was "subject to frequent inappropriate touching and verbal of abuse of a sexual nature".

She alleged the harassment took place between 2002 and 2003.

Mrs Davies later had to resign from her job on medical grounds.

Sir Jon, who is retiring from his post as the assembly's top civil servant in April, has said he wanted to emphasise his total opposition to inappropriate behaviour of any kind in the workplace.

Mrs Davies had welcomed the decision to launch a second inquiry, but she said she did not think allegations of harassment and bullying were taken seriously in many workplaces.

Mrs Davies had said after the case in January: "What I want to do now is reach out to other people, victims in all workplaces, and make them they realise that they have to stand up and be counted".