Debbie Williams won the crown for three pieces of prose

The Urdd Eisteddfod investigated after receiving independent information from a former crown winner about the entry after the festival - one of Europe's largest youth festivals - at Margam Park, south Wales, in May.

Debbie Ann Williams, from Porthmadog in Gwynedd, was represented at a hearing in Aberystwyth on Wednesday by barrister and Archdruid Dr Robyn Lewis.

The panel of three literary experts was appointed by the Urdd after officers received information which suggested the possibility that competition rules had been broken in this year's crown competition - one of the highest accolades awarded there.

Fair and proper

A panel of three experts - Dr Alwyn Roberts, Dr Harri Pritchard Jones and Gwerfyl Pierce Jones - was set up to carry out an independent inquiry .

At the end of the hearing the panel unanimously agreed that the competition result was fair and proper, and confirmed the awarding of the crown to Miss Williams.

Urdd Eisteddfod Director Sian Eirian said the process followed by the organisation was justified and necessary for the credibility of the movement.

"Mature and confident"

Ms Williams won the crown for three pieces of prose on the theme Llwybrau (Paths).

It was the first time the 22-year-old, who works for Menter Iaith Gwynedd (Welsh Language Initiative), had competed for the crown, and the adjudicators referred to her as a "mature and confident author."

Delighted that the complaint had been dismissed, Ms Williams said that she had been deeply hurt that she had been brought before the panel when she knew that she was not guilty.

She said she had told the Urdd officers this when she was first interviewed at their Glan-llyn Centre near Bala.

She said was also concerned that they had gone ahead with the hearing after the complainant declined to be identified, and was not prepared to give evidence against her before the panel.

Extracts

The matter came to the attention of the Urdd when Gwyneth Glyn, the winner of the crown in the 1998 Llyn and Eifionnydd Urdd Eisteddfod wrote them a letter.

In it she draws attention to extracts from Ms Williams' work and her own winning work in 1998.

She also says in the letter that she did not want her name to be made public, but has since come forward.

Ms Glyn said that the information she passed on was not intended as a complaint.

"I am aware of how protective the Urdd is of the rules of competition, and of the need to sustain the reputation and credibility of competitors.