Top BBC reporter fined over airport cannabis arrest 'but won't be sacked'

Dymond: The BBC reporter was arrested for possession of cannabis but will face no action from his employers

Jonny Dymond, who is based in Brussels, was arrested and fined - but won't lose his job.

The 38-year-old was detained by transport police at Vilnius Airport, in Lithuania, after two grams of the drug was found in his bag.

Dymond, a radio and TV news reporter, is understood to have been on holiday alone in Lithuania. He was checking in for a flight to London on Sunday, when he was arrested.

At a court hearing in the capital Vilnius, on Tuesday he pleaded guilty to carrying the drug and was fined £230 for possession.

He told the court he bought it in a nightclub on Saturday night when he was drunk.

Back at his hotel, the cannabis was accidentally packed into his belongings before police found it, he added. Dymond is expected to appear before BBC bosses to explain his actions. But a spokesman played down his arrest.

"We are aware of the incident, which happened in his own time. He recognises that he has been foolish."

A BBC insider said it was not a sackable offence. "It's likely that the BBC will speak to him about this but it probably won't go any further.

"It was a very small amount and was clearly only for personal use. It was not a bigger crime than that."

Dymond is married to the journalist Hettie Judah and has a seven-year-old son.

A Durham University graduate, he has worked as a BBC Europe correspondent since 2005. Before that, he was the BBC's Istanbul correspondent for three years.

Dymond is best known for his coverage-of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 when he was Washington correspondent.

He joined the BBC in 1994 as a researcher on political programmes. He has also worked as a producer on Newsnight.

A Lithuanian police spokesman said Dymond may face restrictions on reporting from the country.

"There are no visa requirements between Great Britain and Lithuania, so it will not be a problem to come back to Lithuania. Of course, as a journalist, he may not be given a permission to visit the Lithuanian president's residence or parliament."

Last month BBC Radio One DJ Grooverider, whose real name is Raymond Bingham, was jailed for four years in Dubai after taking 2.16 grams of cannabis into the United Arab Emirates. He told a court he forgot the drugs were in his pocket.