The picture of remorse: Ex-bank boss Paul Flowers is caught on video snorting drugs until 8am just days before he told a court he is ‘remorseful and dealing with this issue’, so what WILL the judge who let him off with a puny £400 fine think when he sees this?

Paul Flowers filmed 'snorting cocaine and ketamine' with rent boys



'Marathon session' in his Methodist Church-owned house in Bradford



Filmed taking drugs a fortnight ago, a week after he was charged



Shamed Co-op Bank chairman later fined £400 for possession of drugs



Rent boy claims Flowers, 63, still takes ketamine as he is not tested for it

Allegedly spends at least £1,000 a week on drugs and male escorts

Despite a month in rehab, he 'can’t get through a day without ketamine'



Stripped to his grubby shorts and polo shirt, this sordid image of ‘Crystal Methodist’ Paul Flowers shows him doing what he loves best – entertaining rent boys and apparently snorting cocaine.

Holding court in his rent-free Methodist Church house, the disgraced minister and former Co-op Bank chairman is shown for the first time indulging in the addiction that brought about his downfall and wrecked his stewardship of the ‘caring’ bank.

The squalid scene, taken from an exclusive video, is all the more astonishing as it was only shot just over a fortnight ago – and a week after Flowers was charged with possession of crystal meth, ketamine and cocaine. On Wednesday he escaped with a lenient sentence when his lawyer claimed he had learned his lesson.

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No so reformed: Shamed 'Chrystal Methodist' Paul Flowers has been filmed 'snorting cocaine and ketamine' with rent boys until 8am in his Methodist Church-owned house in Bradford

In March, despite our reports, Flowers, 63, was not challenged in an interview by Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman over his supposed commitment to rehabilitation, which he called ‘cathartic and life-changing’.



In fact, The Mail on Sunday has been told, Flowers was using ketamine in a Manchester hotel the night before the interview.

And on Wednesday, David Kitson, the district judge who fined him £400 for possession of the three drugs, did not question claims by Flowers’s lawyer that he was determined ‘to resolve this issue permanently’.

In reality, Flowers has been showing contempt not only for his former parishioners who respected him, but also for the justice system of which he has made a mockery. His fake contrition and promise to reform his ways have been heard many times since this newspaper first exposed his drug abuse last November.

But as our award-winning stories have proved, he has never paid more than lip-service to the idea of drugs rehabilitation. His associates estimate he is spending at least £1,000 a week on drugs and rent boys.

The 'mastodon session' in Flowers' home took place two weeks ago, one week after he was charged with possession and just days before his court appearance Guilty: This week, the disgraced former Co-operative Bank boss admitted possessing drugs including cocaine and crystal meth, and was fined £400 by a judge at Leeds Magistrates Court Police protection: A West Yorkshire Police officer pictured at the home of Paul Flowers in Bradford where the video of him taking drugs was allegedly filmed

A male escort – who we shall call Jack Connolly – said he ‘laughed out loud’ as he and a friend watched the bank boss on Newsnight as he claimed to be sticking to the rules of his rehab at a Birmingham clinic.

‘I was with Paul the night before the TV appearance,’ he said. ‘He said he was looking forward to it. He was not dreading it at all.

‘He said it was to let everyone know that he was no longer on drugs and he was not a monster. But as he was saying it, he was taking ketamine. I watched the programme with my friend who also knew Paul and we were just laughing and thinking, “What a hypocrite.”

‘He still does coke, he has smoked weed, has done Mkat [mephedrone, an illegal class B drug], loves [date-rape drug] GHB and can’t get through a day without ketamine. How is that showing a determination to resolve this issue permanently, as they said in court?’

Despite spending a month at the Priory clinic before Christmas following our exposé of him buying cocaine and crystal meth last November, Flowers was back on his favoured drug, horse tranquilliser ketamine, within a fortnight.

Mr Connolly, who has known Flowers for more than a year, said: ‘He said he had found a new dealer in Manchester and the ket he got from him was more rhino tranquilliser than horse tranquilliser. Someone told him he needed the rhino version, given the size of him.’

Since then, Flowers has been reporting for regular weekly follow-up sessions at which urine samples are taken to ensure he is still clean from drugs. But according to Mr Connolly, Flowers is only ever tested for cocaine and heroin, so stays off cocaine in the days leading up to the test, and sticks to ketamine, or simply fails to turn up at all.

Last month, former Labour councillor Flowers embarked on a marathon session of drink, drugs and sex in his Methodist Church-owned house in Bradford. He snorted cocaine and ketamine with Mr Connolly and another man.

The all-nighter, on April 23-24, came just a week after Flowers turned up at Stainbeck police station in Leeds to be charged. Predictably, as he entered the building he called waiting journalists ‘vultures’.

In text messages seen by The Mail on Sunday, Flowers invited Mr Connolly to his house, telling him his friend Charles, who does not approve of drugs, would also be there. Around midday, Flowers sent a text message saying: ‘Booze but no candy tonight please!!!’

But by 9pm, Flowers had relented somewhat, sending another text message which read: ‘Got any viagra?’

What change? Despite a month in rehab and telling the judge he is 'remorseful' Paul Flowers allegedly still takes class-A substances on a regular basis

Chrystal meth-clear: The male escort has revealed that despite going on regular drug tests, Flowers 'can't got a day without ketamine' and regularly takes the drug as he is only being tested for cocaine and heroin

Mr Connolly told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I arrived there about 10.30pm and Charles soon went to bed, taking a sleeping pill. Paul then came over to me and whispered, “Let’s get some coke”. So I made a call to a dealer who turned up with five grams. Paul gave me £125 and sent me outside to take delivery.

‘We drank vodka, snorted the coke and watched TV. For most people, a gram of coke would be about six lines, but Paul makes his lines so thick that each one is half a gram or so. I honestly don’t know how he does it at his age, and being the size he is. I really fear for his health.’

By 1.30am, the pair had managed to use the entire stash, so with the arrival of Mr Connolly’s friend – another escort – it was time to order more. ‘I couldn’t believe we had got through such a large amount in such a short time,’ said Mr Connolly. ‘But Paul had the vast majority of it, washed down with Absolut vodka.’

This time, Flowers made the call to a drug dealer, but it was Mr Connolly who was again sent outside with £125 of Flowers’s money to collect another five grams of cocaine.

APPLYING FOR A NEW JOB, PAUL?

P.S. Watch out Leeds Building Society... the man from the Co-op is coming your way!

At the moment when he was captured on video, Flowers was discussing a sex aid which makes the male genitalia appear larger.



He punctuated his monologue with a loud snort as he took the cocaine from a tray in front of him.



By 8am Mr Connolly and his friend had decided to leave, having not slept all night.

Mr Connolly later texted Flowers saying his friend ‘daren’t go home in the state he’s in after the drink and what not’.

Further text exchanges show that Flowers was awake at midday when Mr Connolly asked about payment for his services.

And by 2.40pm, Mr Connolly was astonished to learn from Flowers that he was by then driving Charles to Manchester.

‘I couldn’t believe it,’ said Mr Connolly, ‘After taking drugs and vodka all night – and Paul had the lion’s share – he was driving on the M62.

‘God knows what was still in his system. He’s always pushed it to the limit, even when he was working at the bank.



'I was with him one night before he had an important meeting in Manchester the next day.

'He was up all night, doing drugs and went to the meeting with no sleep.’

But by 7.50pm, events seemed to have caught up with Flowers, who scrapped his plan to return to Bradford that night.



His text to Mr Connolly said: ‘Not at all well… Send me your bank details and i will transfer when I wake up!!!’

At 8.20am the next day, Flowers said: ‘Transfer made! Have a good day handsome.’

Mr Connolly said that after The Mail on Sunday’s initial story, Flowers was anticipating a police raid and prepared accordingly.



‘He told me that he put all his drugs and the other stuff like the tray he used for serving them up into a bin liner, drove to Birmingham and dumped it all in some rubbish bins.

‘He said the police found nothing at all when they raided his house.’

Flowers declined to speak to The Mail on Sunday when we put the new allegations to him yesterday.

He appeared relaxed in a pink polo shirt and cream trousers when he opened his front door. As soon as he learnt the nature of the call, he closed the door and locked it without speaking a word.

A spokeswoman for the Methodist Church said The Mail on Sunday’s latest evidence would be considered by an internal disciplinary process which has begun following the criminal proceedings.

She added: ‘It is a confidential process so that all involved can speak freely, and it is independent of the Church leadership.’ It is expected to be completed by the summer.

At cashpoint with ‘friend’ after court ...and the book deal he’s planning

The morning after being fined for possessing drugs, Paul Flowers was spotted leaving his new house in Manchester with a ‘friend’.

The shaven-headed young man, dressed in a hoodie and carrying a bag, jumped into the passenger seat of Flowers’s Nissan Qashqai and the pair drove a mile into Salford town centre where they stopped at a cash machine.

Flowers, wearing a dark jacket, light shirt and chinos, withdrew some money and, after a quick hug, the odd-looking pair went their separate ways, with Flowers later visiting a branch of the Leeds Building Society in Manchester.

Just friends? Paul Flowers was followed to a cash point by a much younger shaven-headed friend after leaving his new home in Manchester

The previous day, Flowers had been whisked away from court by private security men, who dropped him off at his Methodist Church-owned home in Bradford.

Once there he posted a ‘profound’ thank-you message on Facebook to his ‘really good friends’ and signed off: ‘I look forward to sharing my re-found life with you all. Paul xxx.’

Later that day, he drove across the Pennines to his new property – a three-storey townhouse that he bought in March for £180,000 with funds from his late mother’s estate.

Escort Jack Connolly went with him to view the house: ‘He greeted the owner with a handshake and said, “I’m Paul Flowers.” She must have recognised him because she looked horrified.

‘He paid the full asking price and offered me a room in it, saying I could entertain clients and it would be his own whorehouse.

Mutually beneficial: After a quick hug, the odd-looking pair went their separate ways

‘He has spent another £20,000 on a conservatory, plans to turn the small attic into a sex room and said he was getting a super-kingsize bed so he could fit three boys in it.’

His other plans for the property – which may disappoint his new neighbours – include a hot-tub in the garden. Mr Connolly said: ‘We told him it would upset people if they could see naked boys in it and he said, “Yeah, we’ll get a canopy.” ’

Flowers also wants to launch a string of new ventures, and has boasted to friends that he will be more powerful than ever because everyone knows who he is.

Mr Connolly said: ‘He has started to write his autobiography with the working title Paying Dividends, and I know he has held talks with the GAYdio radio station in Manchester about doing a show.