Former Co-op bank boss pleads guilty to drugs offences

The Methodist Church says it will discipline Paul Flowers in a private process.

The Methodist minister and former Co-op Bank boss this week pleaded guilty to possession of drugs and was fined £400 by Leeds Magistrates' Court.

A Methodist spokesperson said: “Now that Paul Flowers has admitted guilt and been sentenced, our disciplinary process can move ahead. It is a confidential process so that all involved can speak freely, and it is independent of the Church leadership.

"We cannot give a deadline by which this work will be completed, but we would expect it to be before the summer.”

The disgraced Bradford Methodist minister and former bank boss, Paul Flowers, has admitted possessing drugs including cocaine and crystal meth.

He arrived at Leeds Magistrates Court this morning to face a media scrum, whom he once again described as 'vultures'. Emma Wilkinson reports:

The former Co-op bank boss, Paul Flowers, has been fined £400 for drugs possession after pleading guilty at Leeds Magistrates' Court.

Flowers stood in front of the dock in court for the 10-minute hearing and answered clearly as the clerk asked him if he understood the charges and then confirmed his personal details.

Asked to plead, he just said "guilty".

Ms Stevens said the footage showed the defendant counting out £300 in £20 notes as he sat in the car, then handing it to another person in the vehicle.

The prosecutor told the district judge Flowers was a former chairman of the Co-op Bank, a Methodist minister a former borough councillor and chairman of governors at a primary school.

She said he was interviewed three times by police and he admitted to officers that it was him in the video.

Ms Stevens said: "He said he had been a cocaine user for the past 18 months.

He cited stress and the care of his terminally ill mother as reasons for his drug use.

"As a former chairman of Lifeline, the national drugs charity, he said he was aware of the effects of cocaine and this was a drug used to keep himself going."

She said another man Flowers thought was a friend "sold his story to the Mail on Sunday for greed".

The court heard how Flowers left his home in Bradford on the day the footage was taken and picked up Stuart Davies before heading for Leeds.

Ms Stevens said: "They drove to Leeds and collected a third man. £300 was given to him and the defendant was given five grammes of cocaine, a small amount of crystal meth and a small amount of ketamine."

She said: "He said he had very little previous experience of crystal meth or ketamine."

The prosecutor said no drugs were found in Flowers' possession by investigating police, and he was prosecuted on the basis of admissions he made to officers.

The disgraced former Co-op Bank boss Paul Flowers has pleaded guilty to drugs possession at Leeds Magistrates' Court.

He admitted three charges of possessing cocaine, methamphetamine and ketamine.

He was sentenced to a £400 fine.

Disgraced former Co-operative Bank boss Paul Flowers has arrived at court to face charges of possessing drugs including cocaine and crystal meth.

The minister, dubbed the crystal Methodist, arrived at Leeds Magistrates' Court this morning before the doors had been unlocked, leaving him to stand on the street for five minutes surrounded by photographers and TV cameras.

He said: "Don't ask me any questions because I won't give any answers."

He repeated his description of the mass of reporters and photographers as "vultures" as he stood and endured a barrage of flash photography, eventually saying: "Do you have enough now?"

Court staff opened the doors at 9am and let the suited clergyman into the building.

Flowers, 63, stepped down as the Co-op Bank's chairman in June amid claims of illegal drug use and inappropriate expenses payments.

He was also suspended by the Methodist Church and the Labour Party. The Co-op confirmed last year that it was seeking to recover contractual payments totalling £31,000 made to Mr Flowers amid reports that he was also the subject of an inquiry into "lavish" expense claims.

He is charged with two counts of possession of class A drugs - cocaine and methamphetamine - and one count of possession of class C drug ketamine, prosecutors said.

A second man, Gavin Woroniuk, 33, of Mitford Road, Leeds, was also charged in relation to the incident. He faces four counts of offering to supply controlled drugs and one count of possession of criminal property and is also due in court today.