Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya loses appeal against conviction

Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya has lost her appeal against her conviction.
Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya (right) arrives outside The Royal Courts of Justice for her conviction challenge with an unidentified woman  The Peterborough MP was jailed for three months after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 5, 2019. See PA story COURTS Onasanya. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire EMN-190503-110553001Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya (right) arrives outside The Royal Courts of Justice for her conviction challenge with an unidentified woman  The Peterborough MP was jailed for three months after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 5, 2019. See PA story COURTS Onasanya. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire EMN-190503-110553001
Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya (right) arrives outside The Royal Courts of Justice for her conviction challenge with an unidentified woman The Peterborough MP was jailed for three months after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 5, 2019. See PA story COURTS Onasanya. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire EMN-190503-110553001

Ms Onasanya will now face a recall petition to hold on to her seat - if 10 per cent of the electorate in the Peterborough constituency, she will face a by-election. She would be eligible to stand in the by-election.

Ms Onasanya made a number of points, including that coverage by the media and on social media was unfair - however judges said the jury were given sufficient warning about avoiding other coverage.

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The 35-year-old solicitor was expelled from the Labour Party after being found guilty in December last year.

Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya (right) arrives outside The Royal Courts of Justice for her conviction challenge with an unidentified woman  The Peterborough MP was jailed for three months after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 5, 2019. See PA story COURTS Onasanya. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire EMN-190503-110553001Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya (right) arrives outside The Royal Courts of Justice for her conviction challenge with an unidentified woman  The Peterborough MP was jailed for three months after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 5, 2019. See PA story COURTS Onasanya. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire EMN-190503-110553001
Disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya (right) arrives outside The Royal Courts of Justice for her conviction challenge with an unidentified woman The Peterborough MP was jailed for three months after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice by lying to police to avoid a speeding charge. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 5, 2019. See PA story COURTS Onasanya. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire EMN-190503-110553001

She was jailed for three months at the Old Bailey in January and was released from prison after serving one month behind bars.

After the Court of Appeal rejected her challenge against her conviction on Tuesday, Labour said it will “actively support” efforts to trigger a

by-election - possible if at least 10% of the electorate in the constituency sign a recall petition.

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The recall petition procedure could not be started until Onasanya’s appeal process came to an end.

A spokeswoman for Peterborough City Council said the local authority is awaiting notification from the Speaker of the House of Commons before it can take action.

A Conservative Party spokesman said the people of Peterborough now have the opportunity to demand a new MP through a by-election.

Representing herself at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, Onasanya told the court: “The charge against me was perverting the course of justice.

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“I said from the outset, and I still maintain my innocence, that I did not do that.”

But she was refused permission for a full appeal by three leading judges.

Jurors at the Old Bailey were told that she colluded with her brother Festus after her car was clocked speeding at 41mph in a 30mph zone in the village of Thorney, near Peterborough, in July 2017.

She was sent a notice of intended prosecution to fill out, but it was sent back naming the guilty driver as Aleks Antipow, an acquaintance of her brother, who was away visiting his parents in Russia.

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Festus Onasanya, 34, from Cambridge, was jailed for 10 months after he admitted three counts of perverting the course of justice over speeding, including the July 24 incident.