Former Labour whip Fiona Onasanya (pictured leaving the Old Bailey today) was found guilty of perverting the course of justice
Former Labour whip Fiona Onasanya could face jail after she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Onasanya, 35, was found to have lied to police to avoid a speeding charge following a retrial at the Old Bailey today.
With her political career in tatters, she has been formally suspended by the Labour party and is now facing calls to resign as an MP.
The solicitor and Labour MP was accused of colluding with her brother Festus after her car was seen speeding at 41mph in a 30mph zone in the village of Thorney, near her constituency of Peterborough at 10pm on July 24 2017.
The MP, who was elected in June 8 2017 but stood down as a Labour whip last month, will be sentenced along with her brother on a date yet to be set.
Festus, 34, from Cambridge, admitted perverting the course of justice three times to avoid speeding points.
She had tried to avoid prosecution for the offence by claiming that Aleks Antipow was the driver of the Nissan Micra.
Mr Antipow, a former lodger, was at home with his parents in Russia 1,800 miles away.
Onasanya had claimed she left the form at her mother’s house and had no idea who was driving the car.
She ‘mistakenly’ claimed she was in London when the speeding ticket was issued – but mobile phone records placed her at the scene. It was then suggested she might have been in the car but not driving.
Jurors in the first trial were told she ‘didn’t know’ who was behind the wheel when the speed camera was triggered.
Authorities tried to contact Onasanya at her home and in Westminister after they were unable to track down Mr Antipow at a false address.
Former Labour whip Fiona Onasanya (pictured leaving court today) had tried to avoid prosecution for the offence by claiming that Aleks Antipow was the driver of the Nissan Micra
When the Cambridgeshire Police camera unit asked Onasanya to provide correct information, she replied: ‘I have supplied the details made known to me as well as the licence information… I have provided a completed nomination previously.’
In a phone call on November 2 last year, she told an investigator that she ‘stands by her nomination’, jurors heard.
When the Cambridgeshire Police camera unit asked Onasanya to provide correct information, she replied: ‘I have supplied the details made known to me as well as the licence information… I have provided a completed nomination previously.’
Onasanya was elected as a Labour MP as part of the 2017 general election, which took place just a few weeks before the car was seen speeding
Festus Onasanya, the 33-year-old brother of Labour MP Fiona Onasanya, was accused of colluding with his sister to pervert the course of justice. Mr Onasanya leaving court in November (pictured)
In a phone call on November 2 last year, she told an investigator that she ‘stands by her nomination’, jurors heard.
Festus Onasanya admitted to perverting the course of justice a week before the first trial to avoid speeding prosecutions on three different occasions, including for the incident on July 24.
The singer-come-delivery driver already had nine points on his licence and risked losing his job if he received any more.
Earlier last year, his MP sister had also been caught speeding and filled out a NIP correctly and completed a speed awareness course to avoid three points.
A day after the first trial began at the Old Bailey, Onasanya’s former communications manager came forward to place her at his house in Thorney on the evening of July 24.
Christian DeFeo told jurors he never imagined in his ‘darkest dreams’ that he would give evidence against the woman who he helped to election victory last June.
Jurors were also told that Onasanya had texted a landscape gardener minutes after the car was clocked speeding.
Giving evidence, Onasanya denied lying to police for the sake of three points on her licence.
She did not recall visiting the DeFeo house on July 24 but could not rule out being behind the wheel.
The Nissan Micra was seen speeding at 41mph through a 30mph zone in Thorney near Peterborough on July 24, 2017
While being pursued over the NIP, Onasanya was admitted to hospital for three days last September, having suffered a relapse of multiple sclerosis.
The episode confirmed the devastating diagnosis, she said: ‘I was told I had a relapse and they had found more lesions on my brain.
‘I probably was not in the best head space. I’ve just been told I had got an incurable degenerative disease. I think that would preoccupy anyone.’
When she asked her brother about the ticket, Festus told her it was all ‘sorted’, she claimed.
Onasanya’s lawyer Christine Agnew QC described Festus as a charming chancer who tried to play on his sister’s standing as a lawyer and MP to get him ‘out of the hole’.
During the trial, Labour chief whip Nicholas Brown lent his support to his colleague, describing her as ‘honest, trustworthy and reliable’.
The Onasanya siblings face possible jail time when they are sentenced at the Old Bailey by Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC on a later date.
Fiona Onasanya defeated the Conservative incumbent Stewart Jackson at the 2017 election, winning with a majority of just 607 votes.
Fiona Onasanya defeated the Conservative incumbent Stewart Jackson at the 2017 election, winning with a majority of just 607 votes