Man who gave MP drug for trip handed caution
AMAN has been cautioned for illegally supplying the controlled drug diazepam to Welsh Labour MP Stephen Doughty.
But South Wales Police will not say whether Mr Doughty, who represents Cardiff South & Penarth and sits on Labour’s front bench in the House of Commons as a Shadow Foreign Office Minister, has been interviewed in connection with the matter.
Last month the Mail on Sunday published a story in which Mr Doughty apologised for asking Byron Long, who was a constituent and close friend, to supply him with the anti-depressant, which is only available on prescription, for a forthcoming long-haul flight.
Text messages between the two men showed that Mr Doughty, who has spoken about his own mental health problems, arranged for Mr Long to deliver “any spare diazepam” to him at his home in Cardiff Bay.
Mr Long, 62, a former activist in Cardiff South & Penarth Constituency Labour Party who is unemployed, claimed that he gave the MP up to 140 diazepam pills during up to 20 meetings at a Cardiff coffee shop, although this has been strenuously denied by Mr Doughty.
Nevertheless, the MP apologised for asking his then friend for the tablets for the flight, which Mr Doughty said the prospect of was causing “last-minute and unexpected panic attacks”.
Earlier this month Mr Long went to Cardiff Bay police station and made a statement in which he admitted supplying the Class C drug diazepam to Mr Doughty.
He was arrested, held for around 14 hours, and then released on police bail.
During his time in custody, his home was searched by police officers
Yesterday, after being invited to attend the police station, he was formally cautioned.
The official caution document issued to him states: “Offence: concerned in the supplying of diazepam, a controlled drug of Class C, to Stephen Doughty in contravention of section 4 (1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.”
The caution specifies Mr Doughty’s home address in Cardiff Bay.
South Wales Police issued a statement which said: “South Wales Police can confirm that a 62-year-old man has accepted a caution for being concerned in the supply of Class C drugs.”.
We asked South Wales Police whether Mr Doughty had been interviewed in connection with the matter and whether he would be offered a caution for possessing a Class C drug.
A police spokeswoman responded: “There is no evidence of any other offences having been committed in connection to this incident.”
Mr Long said: “This makes no sense.
“I admitted supplying Stephen Doughty with diazepam and they named him in the caution document as the person who received it.
“They would not have cautioned me if they did not believe me when I said I supplied the tablets to him.
“If I am guilty of supplying the controlled drug to him, then surely he must have been in possession of it.
“This looks to me as if an MP is being treated in a different way to an ordinary person. It doesn’t seem fair or just.”
Possession of a class C drug is also an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Mr Long says he told his story to the Mail on Sunday because he believed Mr Doughty had let him down and not helped him sufficiently with a major housing problem he had in relation to the external cladding of his home. But Mr Doughty has denied not helping his former friend.
We sought comment from Mr Doughty and the Labour Party about Mr Long’s caution but neither responded.