Former Co-op Bank boss must repay £185k or spend longer in jail

Former Co-operative Bank chairman Paul Flowers has been warned by a judge that he faces longer behind bars unless he returns the nearly £185,000 he stole from an elderly friend.

The now 75-year-old, who was a Labour councillor in Rochdale and Bradford, betrayed Margaret Jarvis by plundering her cash to spend on drugs, holidays and gifts for himself.

Flowers, who was also a church minister, had power of attorney for retired teacher Miss Jarvis and was executor of her will.

He pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud in July 2024 at Manchester Crown Court and was jailed for three years.

A judge told Flowers – in charge of the Manchester-based Co-operative Bank between 2010 and 2013 – he would have two-and a half years added to his prison sentence if he did not pay £184,862 within the next three months.

Charles Clayton, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Paul Flowers abused the trust his friend placed in him, preying on her vulnerability.

“He stole a large amount of money from her, depriving charities and her niece of gifts that were bequeathed to them. We are pleased to have secured a compensation order that will right that wrong.

“Flowers took advantage of Margaret Jarvis’s illness; he knew she wouldn’t realise he was stealing and even continued to steal from her after her death.

“Today the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division ensured that Flowers cannot continue to benefit from his ill-gotten gains and his victim’s final wishes for her estate will finally be fulfilled.”

Miss Jarvis, who had no partner or children, was an old friend of Flowers.

After she developed progressive dementia and could no longer look after her own financial affairs, Flowers took control of her accounts.

He continued taking her money after she died aged 82 in a care home near Amersham in Buckinghamshire in 2016.

An analysis of transactions by Flowers showed he had used Miss Jarvis’s money to buy fine wines, cruise holidays, stays at the Park Hotel in London’s Knightsbridge, and tickets for the West End show Jersey Boys.

Flowers was dubbed the “crystal methodist” after the Mail on Sunday published secretly filmed footage of the then-church minister handing over £300 in cash for crystal meth and other drugs in Leeds in November 2013.

He pleaded guilty at Leeds Magistrates’ Court to possessing cocaine, crystal meth and ketamine, and was fined £400.