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| Fiona Onasanya: Peterborough MP guilty in speeding case | Fiona Onasanya: Peterborough MP guilty in speeding case |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An MP has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police about who was behind the wheel of a speeding car. | An MP has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police about who was behind the wheel of a speeding car. |
| Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya denied she was driving her car when it was caught doing 41mph in a 30mph zone in Thorney, Cambridgeshire, in July 2017. | Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya denied she was driving her car when it was caught doing 41mph in a 30mph zone in Thorney, Cambridgeshire, in July 2017. |
| The 35-year-old Labour MP was convicted in an Old Bailey retrial. | The 35-year-old Labour MP was convicted in an Old Bailey retrial. |
| A Labour Party spokesman said she had been "administratively suspended" and called for her to resign. | |
| He added: "The Labour Party is deeply disappointed in Fiona Onasanya's behaviour. It falls well below what is expected of politicians. She should now resign." | |
| The MP's brother Festus Onasanya, 33, previously pleaded guilty to three counts of perverting the course of justice. | |
| The pair will be sentenced on a date yet to be set. | |
| After the verdict, the judge Mr Justice Stuart-Smith said: "This is not going to be easy, not to give any indication one way or the other [about sentencing]." | |
| During her retrial, after a previous jury failed to reach a verdict, the court was told the MP's Nissan Micra car was caught near Peterborough just after 22:00 BST on 24 July last year. | During her retrial, after a previous jury failed to reach a verdict, the court was told the MP's Nissan Micra car was caught near Peterborough just after 22:00 BST on 24 July last year. |
| She received a Notice of Intended Prosecution that required her to state whether she was driving the car at the time or to identify who was. | She received a Notice of Intended Prosecution that required her to state whether she was driving the car at the time or to identify who was. |
| The authorities were told that the family's former lodger Aleks Antipow had been behind the wheel, but inquiries revealed he had been in Russia visiting his family at the time. | The authorities were told that the family's former lodger Aleks Antipow had been behind the wheel, but inquiries revealed he had been in Russia visiting his family at the time. |
| A fake address and telephone number were also provided, which the prosecution said would make Mr Antipow "untraceable to the police" and the "true driver" would escape prosecution. | A fake address and telephone number were also provided, which the prosecution said would make Mr Antipow "untraceable to the police" and the "true driver" would escape prosecution. |
| The MP's former communications manager Dr Christian DeFeo came forward during the first trial to give evidence against her, after his wife forwarded him a local newspaper article about the case. | |
| He said she visited their house, a short distance from the speed camera in Thorney, on the evening of 24 July and that she arrived and left alone. | |
| The court heard Onasanya's mobile phone was being used in the vicinity of the speed camera at the time of the offence. | |
| She claimed to the jury that her brother "would have had to be driving me" and added: "I don't use my phone when driving". | |
| Onasanya had been elected as an MP six weeks before the speeding offence took place, but stood down as a Labour whip in November. |