DUP man resigns over alleged meeting with male masseur

DUP Assemblyman Paul Berry has resigned from the party today as a result of newspaper allegations last year that he was involved with a male masseur.

The 29-year-old was suspended from the party last July after a Sunday tabloid said he had met the masseur at a Belfast hotel during the last British general election.

He subsequently mounted a High Court action to prevent the DUP from taking disciplinary action against him.

However, his lawyers told the court today that their client had now decided to drop the case.

The move follows the emergence of new evidence suggesting that Mr Berry had been less than frank in his portrayal of himself as a man wronged.

In a statement, Mr Berry said he was resigning from the DUP because it was clear that he had no future in the party, regardless of the outcome of the legal proceedings.