Peterborough MP To Appeal Conviction

17 January 2019, 16:26 | Updated: 17 January 2019, 16:28

Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya will appeal against her conviction for perverting the course of justice after lying to police to avoid a speeding charge.

The Peterborough MP, who faces a possible prison sentence, was expelled from the Labour Party after being found guilty at the Old Bailey in December.

The Court of Appeal said that Ms Onasanya had lodged an application against her conviction and that this was received by the court on New Year's Eve.

A court officer said the application was in the early stages, and that no date has been set for a hearing.

It is not known on what grounds the application has been made.

Onasanya has indicated she intends to stay in the House of Commons, writing in her column in the Peterborough Telegraph that constituents should "rest assured" that she would remain their representative fighting injustice in the corridors of power.

The 35-year-old solicitor took the marginal Peterborough seat with a majority of just 607 from Tory Stewart Jackson at the 2017 election just 18 months ago.

Under parliamentary rules, Ms Onasanya would lose her seat in the Commons only if she is jailed for 12 months or more at her sentencing.

But if the sentence is less than that, a recall petition can force a by-election if it is signed by more than 10% of the electorate in the Cambridgeshire seat.

She was convicted after a retrial of colluding with her brother Festus after her car was clocked going 41mph in a 30mph zone in the village of Thorney near Peterborough in July 2017.

The court was told that she was sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) to fill out, but it was sent back naming the guilty driver as Aleks Antipow, an acquaintance of her brother Festus, who was away visiting his parents in Russia.

Festus pleaded guilty to three counts of perverting the course of justice over speeding, including over the July 24 incident.