Neil McEvoy's Plaid Cymru expulsion cut by six months

Image caption, Neil McEvoy says he is considering legal action over his expulsion

An assembly member who was thrown out of Plaid Cymru has had the period of his expulsion cut from 18 months to 12.

An appeal hearing found the original sanction against Neil McEvoy was "somewhat disproportionate".

Plaid removed Mr McEvoy's membership after he was found guilty of misconduct over his behaviour at a party conference.

The AM said that he is considering legal action but Plaid Cymru said the hearing had upheld the complaints.

Mr McEvoy, who now sits as an independent in the assembly, will be able to try to rejoin Plaid Cymru after 18 March 2019.

In March, Plaid Cymru's disciplinary panel against found Mr McEvoy on three complaints, including that he was guilty of misconduct at the 2017 Plaid Cymru spring conference.

Plaid chairman Alun Ffred Jones had complained that he had asked the AM not to hold a rally at the conference, a request that was ignored when a welcoming party greeted Mr McEvoy at the Newport venue.

The chairman added that Mr McEvoy made frequent references in his conference speech to a tribunal which had found against him, despite having being asked not to mention it.

The tribunal had found the AM, who is also a Cardiff councillor, had made a comment to a Cardiff council officer that amounted to bullying behaviour.

'No option'

The disciplinary panel decided to exclude Mr McEvoy for 18 months, but the appeal found this was "somewhat disproportionate given all the circumstances".

A letter from the appeal panel chair, Fflur Jones, said the group accepted "that it could have been hard for you to stop the rally" at conference "given the timings involved".

Mr McEvoy said: "I've been expelled from Plaid for not doing enough to stop members from welcoming me to a conference and for briefly discussing a heavily flawed tribunal in my conference speech.

"I've got no option now but to discuss court action with my legal team. Key principles of natural justice, due process and duty of care have been completely abandoned by the current Plaid leadership," he added.

"I want the party members to know that I want the best for Plaid Cymru and I want the best for Wales. The party just can't continue to treat its own members like this."

A Plaid Cymru spokeswoman said: "The hearing panel has resolved to uphold the complaints against Neil McEvoy.

"He is excluded from the party for 12 months. The decision of the Panel is final."