Former Tory justice minister fined £1,200 for possession of chemsex drugs

Former MP Crispin Blunt has been fined £1,200 for possessing illegal drugs after he told a court he entered the world of chemsex parties to help inform government policy.

The 65-year-old former justice minister appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday to plead guilty to four charges of drug possession at his home in Horley in Surrey on October 25 2023.

But in an extraordinary speech in court lasting more than 30 minutes, Blunt hit out at the decision to charge him with criminal offences and suggested that all drugs should be legal.

Blunt said the charges against him came after he claims he fell victim to a blackmail and extortion plot from his drug dealer who had accused him of rape.

He said he first took an interest in drugs policy after being appointed as a justice minister in David Cameron’s government, and claimed his “first-hand experience” – including hosting drug-fuelled chemsex parties at his home – had helped to inform his campaign for policy reform.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram sentenced Blunt to a £1,200 fine, telling him: “As a former minister for prisons, probation, and justice, you – like all public servants – served as a role model to all”.

“I do note your views and your position on prohibition on possession and usage of drugs.

“That said, I’m sure you as a former parliamentarian believe in the rule of law.

“The fact is your actions have risked undermining confidence in all parliamentarians by breaking the very laws you enacted.”

The judge said Blunt’s crimes were aggravated by his admission to hosting drugs parties and facilitating the use of illegal substances by others.

Blunt represented the Conservative Party in Parliament and served as parliamentary under-secretary of state for prisons and youth justice from 2010 to 2012, and went on to chair the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2015 until 2017.

He lost the Tory whip in October 2023 when he was first arrested by police, and he stood down from Parliament at the 2024 general election.

Police were investigating a rape complaint against Blunt, but this part of the investigation concluded with no charges being brought.

Prior to entering Parliament, Blunt was a graduate of the Sandhurst Military Academy and he spent more than a decade as an officer in the British Army.

Prosecutor Zarah Dickinson said Blunt was “polite” and “calm” when his home was searched by police as they investigated an allegation stemming from a September 2023 chemsex party which had been made against the MP.

“No charges were brought on those alleged offences”, she said.

Blunt pointed out to officers the drugs that he had, including crystal meth valued at between £200 and £250 on the bedside table, plastic bottles of a crystal meth and amphetamine mix, another bottle containing £200 of GBL in a laptop bag, and a bag of cannabis valued at between £5 and £10.

Police also found weighing scales with powder residue, as well as “drug use paraphernalia”.

In his police interview, Blunt said he took an interest in drugs after being appointed as a justice minister, and claimed he used his “first-hand experience” to inform his work on policy reform.

“It was the first time he had come out as a gay man, and during his ministerial role he saw first-hand the harm caused by the government’s drug policy,” said Ms Dickinson, summarising his police interview.

“He began to take a professional interest in a policy that inflicted lasting harm on society.

“Then he began his involving in the chemsex scene.

“His knowledge of first hand use of drugs was used to inform how policies could be implemented.”

She said Blunt insisted he limited guests at his chemsex parties to one gram an hour of GBL, a drug which can be fatal in high doses.

Blunt, who represented himself in court, said he had been planning – until a few days ago – to plead not guilty and take his case to a Crown Court trial.

“I was going to make my case to the jury, asking them to find me not guilty because they shouldn’t really be offences”, he said.

However he said he decided to plead guilty after seeing the impact of publicity of the charges on his family.

“I had not anticipated being exhibit A around the prohibition of drugs in His Majesty’s Courts, but here I am”, he said.

Blunt told the judge he met a builder at one of his parties who was “generous about his hospitality”, they became friends, and he then discovered that the man was also a drug supplier.

But he detailed how their friendship turned sour when the builder started making demands for money, claiming he had been knocked unconscious and raped by the MP and his partner at one of the parties.

“In messages, he said I was going to pay with my career”, he said.

Blunt said he handed over £2,000 “in order to buy myself some time”, and after seeking legal advice he went to the police.

But he said police officers called in to investigate his claim of extortion “decided there wasn’t any”.

During his speech, Blunt spoke about the “appalling” October 7 attack by Hamas and said Israel had “responded to the dreadful atrocity with another crime”, before suggesting that Prime Minister Sunak had become “complicit in war crimes” by offering the country’s support to Israel.

When the judge interjected to remind Blunt that his submissions should be relevant to the court hearing, Blunt repeated that he believed his support for Palestine was part of the background to the case.

Blunt said his time in government “led me to the very firm conclusion we are blind to the global catastrophe of the prohibition of all narcotics”, and he turned his fire on former colleagues in Parliament.

They have “sat with moral simplicity that drugs are bad, they are banned, without regard to the appalling consequences of that simple position”, he said.

“It keeps politicians safe on the moral high ground.”

He set out that having a safe seat in Reigate meant he could “genuinely give the electorate the benefit of my judgment” and speak out on potentially controversial issues.

Blunt pleaded guilty to one count of possessing class A drugs and three charges of possession of class B drugs.

He was ordered to pay a £480 victim surcharge on to of the £1,200 fine, as well as £200 in costs.