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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/19/labour-mp-fiona-onasanya-guilty-of-lying-over-speeding-charge
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Labour MP guilty of lying over speeding charge | Labour MP guilty of lying over speeding charge |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A Labour MP has been suspended and urged to resign from parliament by her party after being found guilty of repeatedly lying to avoid a speeding ticket. | |
| Fiona Onasanya, the MP for Peterborough, was accused of colluding with her brother to avoid three points on her licence by claiming that a former lodger had been driving her Nissan Micra when it was found travelling at 41mph in a 30mph zone. | Fiona Onasanya, the MP for Peterborough, was accused of colluding with her brother to avoid three points on her licence by claiming that a former lodger had been driving her Nissan Micra when it was found travelling at 41mph in a 30mph zone. |
| Police established the former lodger was in Russia at the time of the offence. | Police established the former lodger was in Russia at the time of the offence. |
| The trained solicitor was accused at the Old Bailey of inventing a series of lies over 17 months to hide the fact that she was driving the car. | The trained solicitor was accused at the Old Bailey of inventing a series of lies over 17 months to hide the fact that she was driving the car. |
| Following a retrial, she has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice, a charge which usually results in a custodial sentence. | Following a retrial, she has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice, a charge which usually results in a custodial sentence. |
| The career of Onasanaya, 35, lies in ruins after the verdict. A Labour spokesman said that the party was “deeply disappointed” in her behaviour and said that she has been suspended from the party and should resign as an MP. She might also be struck off as a solicitor. | |
| The verdict raises the possibility of a byelection in Peterborough, a seat Onasanya won by 607 votes at the general election. She beat the Conservative incumbent, Stewart Jackson, in a constituency with a high leave vote. | The verdict raises the possibility of a byelection in Peterborough, a seat Onasanya won by 607 votes at the general election. She beat the Conservative incumbent, Stewart Jackson, in a constituency with a high leave vote. |
| During the first trial in November, the MP said she did not know who was driving her car when it was caught speeding shortly after 10pm on 24 July last year. | During the first trial in November, the MP said she did not know who was driving her car when it was caught speeding shortly after 10pm on 24 July last year. |
| A notice of intended prosecution form was sent back to authorities claiming her former lodger was behind the wheel. | A notice of intended prosecution form was sent back to authorities claiming her former lodger was behind the wheel. |
| Days before the first trial began, the MP’s brother Festus admitted three charges of perverting the course of justice. | Days before the first trial began, the MP’s brother Festus admitted three charges of perverting the course of justice. |
| The prosecution alleged the MP repeatedly avoided contact with the police and deliberately misled them about the form and who was driving the car. | The prosecution alleged the MP repeatedly avoided contact with the police and deliberately misled them about the form and who was driving the car. |
| When Onasanya was finally interviewed by police in January, she refused to say who was driving or who had filled in the form. | When Onasanya was finally interviewed by police in January, she refused to say who was driving or who had filled in the form. |
| The court heard how part of the subsequent investigation into the alleged offence examined mobile phone cell site evidence. | |
| The data showed both of the politician’s mobile phones connecting with masts in the area close to the traffic camera at the time it was triggered. | |
| Onasanya’s case became increasingly difficult to sustain when, during the first trial, her former head of communications came forward to tell the police that the MP had been at his home in Thorney near the speed camera on the night it was activated. | |
| Dr Christian DeFeo and his wife Caroline Earle had read reports of Onasanya’s first trial in the Peterborough Telegraph and he described having “no choice” but to come forward. | |
| The couple remembered the MP visited them at their home on The Causeway in Thorney, on the evening she is said to have committed the speeding offence. | |
| During the first trial Onasnaya claimed she did not know who was driving the car and claimed she had never asked her brother about the incident. | |
| During the second trial, she said she must have been a passenger in the car which was being driven by her brother. | |
| Prosecutor David Jeremy QC told the jury she went on to lie “persistently and deliberately” to avoid prosecution. | |
| Speaking after the trial, the judge, Mr Justice Stuart-Smith, said: “This is not going to be easy, not to give any indication one way or the other. | |
| “What your client should understand, although she knows the seriousness of this, I will listen to all considerations.” | |
| Onasanya gave no visible reaction to the unanimous verdict in court and did not comment to the media. | |
| She will be sentenced alongside her brother on a date yet to be determined. Festus, 34, from Cambridge, admitted perverting the course of justice three times to avoid speeding points. | |
| A Labour spokesperson said: “The Labour party is deeply disappointed in Fiona Onasanya’s behaviour. It falls well below what is expected of politicians. She should now resign.“Fiona Onasanya is being administratively suspended from the Labour party and therefore the whip with immediate effect.” | |
| Donna Rayner, of the CPS, said: “Fiona Onasanya and her brother Festus both lied to the authorities in the hope they could avoid the consequences of their speeding offences. | |
| “Fiona Onsanya denied perverting the course of justice but the CPS presented evidence that her phone was in the area when the speeding took place and the man she had nominated as the driver was, in fact, out of the country. Clearly the jury did not believe her explanation.” | |
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