THE DUP has faced criticism for allowing a man jailed over a cocaine haul worth nearly £1m to attend an internal meeting with senior party figures including Arlene Foster.
Mark Officer was handed a 40-month sentence in 2015 for being involved in the supply of the Class A drug.
The Irish News yesterday revealed that the north Belfast man has applied to join the DUP and last week attended a constituency association annual general meeting.
He was pictured alongside senior DUP figures including party leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds.
The image was posted online by the DUP's north Belfast branch, but was later removed.
A message with the photo read: "An honour to have DUP leader Rt Hon Arlene Foster MLA as guest speaker at our constituency association annual general meeting this evening."
The DUP said Officer served his jail term and now wants to "make a positive contribution to society".
But former Policing Board member Dolores Kelly, an SDLP Upper Bann MLA, questioned his attendance.
"We all recognise that people can turn their lives around, however I find it quite surprising that the DUP, a self-styled 'tough on crime' party, has no qualms with a man convicted for being involved in the storage of almost £1m of cocaine attending internal party meetings with access to their most senior figures," she said.
DUP Belfast councillor Dale Pankhurst, who also attended the meeting, yesterday criticised The Irish News.
He wrote on Twitter: "Pathetic attempt by the Irish News this morning trying to stop a man moving on with his life.
"I wonder will they be going around investigating every Sinn Féin cumann, telling their readers what they were involved in during the Troubles? I suspect not.
"He served his sentence, paid what he owed, and is trying to move on. Is that so hard to fathom?"
Officer, from Glenbryn Drive, was 41 when he was sentenced in May 2015 along with a co-accused for charges dating back to 2013.
Police searched a house in the Shankill area linked to Officer and found a significant amount of cocaine in various levels of purity, along with equipment associated with mixing the drug.
A prosecutor said it was the Crown's case that Officer had involved himself in mixing the drug at the address.
A defence lawyer said he was more of a "storeman" and was "vulnerable to people who may want to take advantage of him".
Judge David McFarland told the pair they would serve half of their sentences in prison and half on licence.
He said that while he accepted Officer had acted under some degree of pressure, he had involved himself in processing the drug.
Officer had been a member of Pride of Ardoyne Loyalist Flute Band, which featured in a 2013 BBC documentary, Petrol Bombs & Peace: Welcome To Belfast.
However, a flute band representative contacted The Irish News yesterday to say he has not been involved since his conviction.
