Paul Flowers fined £400 for drugs possession

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.