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Former Co-op boss Paul Flowers admits drug possession | |
(34 minutes later) | |
Former Co-op Bank boss Paul Flowers has pleaded guilty to drug possession, at Leeds Magistrates' Court. | Former Co-op Bank boss Paul Flowers has pleaded guilty to drug possession, at Leeds Magistrates' Court. |
Mr Flowers, 63, was arrested last November after newspaper allegations he had been involved in a drug deal. | |
The suspended Methodist minister had stepped down from the Co-op six months earlier over concerns about expenses. | |
He was fined £400 and ordered to pay £125 in costs after pleading guilty to charges of possessing cocaine, methamphetamine and ketamine. | |
He had earlier apologised for "stupid and wrong" behaviour, saying he had been under pressure because of problems at the bank and a recent death in his family. | |
Mr Flowers previously served as a Labour councillor in Bradford and on an informal board advising Labour leader Ed Miliband on banking. | |
He was suspended by the Labour Party and the Methodist Church and faces a disciplinary procedure by the Church. | |
Black hole | |
His appointment as Co-op Bank chairman in April 2010 was widely criticised because of his inexperience in banking. | |
In May last year, the Co-op Bank was found to have a £1.5bn black hole in its finances. | |
Mr Flowers stepped down the following month. | |
In November, Mr Flowers was called to appear before Parliament's Treasury Select Committee to discuss his management of the bank. | |
After his appearance, the committee's chairman Andrew Tyrie said Mr Flowers was "manifestly unsuitable" to be chairman of a bank. | |
Mr Flowers is also a former trustee of the drugs charity Lifeline, from which he resigned in 2004 after allegedly filing false expenses claims. |