© Tom Blewitt & Zack Griffiths – Predator Awareness

A former Methodist minister, senior banking figure and local Labour councillor has been jailed for fraud, marking the latest chapter in a long history of controversy that has shadowed his public life.

Paul Flowers, born 5 June 1950, was sentenced to three years in prison at Manchester Crown Court on 27 February after pleading guilty to 18 counts of fraud by abuse of position. The court heard that he defrauded a long-standing friend of around £100,000 while acting as the sole executor of her will.

The woman had intended for her estate to be donated to a number of charities. Instead, Flowers used much of the money to fund his own lifestyle. Most of the offending took place in 2016 and 2017, with around £70,000 withdrawn in cash and the remainder spent on holidays, cruises, home improvements, food and alcohol. He also wrote cheques to himself totalling more than £40,000. The fraud came to light in 2019 after bank officials raised concerns with Greater Manchester Police, while the victim’s pension provider had discovered her pension had continued to be paid for two years after her death.

Detective Constable Kate Riley of GMP’s Economic Crime Unit said Flowers had “completely abused his position” and deprived charities of money that should have supported good causes.

The conviction follows earlier scandals that damaged Flowers’ once-prominent career. In 1981, while serving as a Methodist minister in Hampshire and standing in local elections, he pleaded guilty to committing an act of gross indecency in a public toilet in Botley. Police had witnessed him and another man engaging in a sexual act at the Mortimer’s Road facilities. He was fined by magistrates but continued his ministry and political work, later moving to Rochdale to take up a senior council role.

Decades later, in 2013, he faced further disgrace when he was filmed allegedly purchasing illegal drugs, including cocaine and crystal meth, shortly after appearing before the Treasury Select Committee to answer questions about financial problems at The Co-operative Bank, where he had served as chairman. He apologised at the time, admitting he had done “stupid and wrong” things during a difficult period, and was suspended by both the Labour Party and the Methodist Church.

Flowers had once been known as the “political parson,” rising from local church leadership and council roles to the top of a major British bank. But his latest conviction for fraud, involving the betrayal of a vulnerable friend and the loss of funds intended for charity, has definitively reshaped his legacy.