The owner and editor of a series of regional newspapers in Wales has said that his conviction for identifying a sexual offence victim contributed towards the closure of the title in which it appeared.

Thomas Sinclair was found to have breached the Sex Offences Act, which gives victims anonymity for life, and ordered to pay £3,650 in fines and compensation in May last year after the article appeared in weekly paper the Ceredigion Herald.

The judge at the time said the breach had “enormous” potential to deter other victims from coming forward. Sinclair, 38, is currently appealing his conviction in Swansea Crown Court.