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LABOUR suspended former whip Fiona Onasanya today and said she should resign as an MP after she was convicted of lying to police to avoid a speeding charge.
The solicitor, who faces a possible prison sentence, was accused of colluding with her brother Festus Onasanya after her car was clocked at 41mph in a 30mph zone in the village of Thorney near Peterborough.
In a retrial at the Old Bailey, prosecutor David Jeremy QC told the jury Ms Onasanya went on to lie “persistently and deliberately” to avoid prosecution.
Her brother had pleaded guilty to three counts of perverting the course of justice over speeding, including the July 24 incident, a week before the original trial, to avoid receiving more points on top of the nine already on his driving record.
But Ms Onasanya, who was elected in June 2017 after failing to gain the nomination to be Labour’s candidate for mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, which was won by left-wing candidate Kevin Price, denied a single count of perverting the course of justice.
The Old Bailey had heard how, as the registered keeper of the Nissan Micra, she was sent a notice of intended prosecution (Nip) to fill out and return.
It was sent back naming Aleks Antipow, an acquaintance of her brother who was away visiting his parents in Russia.
Authorities repeatedly tried to contact Ms Onasanya at her home and in Westminster after they were unable to track down Mr Antipow at a false address.
Giving evidence, she denied lying to police to avoid three points on her licence.
While being pursued over the Nip, Ms Onasanya was admitted to hospital for three days last September, having suffered a relapse of multiple sclerosis.
“I probably was not in the best head space,” she said.
In a statement, a Labour spokesman said that the party is “deeply disappointed in Fiona Onasanya’s behaviour.”