Plaid suspension lifted for drink-drive AM Bethan Jenkins

Bethan Jenkins apologised to her Plaid Cymru colleagues

Plaid Cymru has lifted its suspension of Welsh assembly member Bethan Jenkins after her conviction for drink-driving.

Miss Jenkins pleaded guilty and was banned from driving for 20 months when she appeared in court last December.

She apologised to Plaid AMs when they met in Cardiff Bay at the start of the new assembly term on Tuesday.

Plaid's disciplinary process against the South Wales West AM has ended, but the assembly's standards commissioner is considering her case separately.

Miss Jenkins, 31, was arrested in the early hours of 14 October in the Llandaff area of Cardiff.

Cardiff magistrates court heard in December that she was over twice the drink-drive limit, unsteady, barefoot and wearing pyjama-style bottoms. The court was told she had been to a 40th birthday party.

Miss Jenkins has previously said she is "deeply sorry" for the incident and that she has been been suffering from depression.

Following her arrest, she was suspended from Plaid's assembly group and stood down as the party's spokeswoman on heritage, the Welsh language and sport.

Plaid AM Alun Ffred Jones said: "Bethan has apologised publicly and this morning has apologised in full to Plaid Cymru AMs.

"Her suspension from the assembly group has been lifted and she is a full member again. The group's disciplinary process has now ended."

A complaint about Miss Jenkins has been referred to the assembly's standards commissioner. He will make a recommendation to the cross-party standards committee after an investigation.

The committee has the power to censure or suspend members.

An assembly spokesman said: "The matter is now with the commissioner for standards who will report at an appropriate time."