A DUP councillor sanctioned for failing to declare interests over planning applications lobbied on by his MLA employer had sought to argue a standards watchdog hearing was "unlawful".
The South Antrim MLA denied his side-line business Versatile Consultancy breached Stormont rules prohibiting paid advocacy, but later ceased its operations. In a letter they added: "As such, neither we nor the respondent will be in attendance at the pre-hearing review tomorrow, nor will we take any further part in this unlawful process."
The adjudication hearing went ahead last month in Mr Smyth's absence. He was given a three-month suspension from the planning committee from July 17 until October 15.He said Mr Smyth, a former mayor, was mistaken in his belief that recording his employment on his register of interests satisfied these parts of the code.
Get the latest politics news and analysis in your inbox Want the biggest political stories sent straight to you? Mr Gordon said there was "no evidence" Mr Smyth "had taken any steps to mitigate any conflict of interest in this regard".The probe also found no evidence Mr Smyth had any knowledge of Versatile being owned by Mr Clarke.