Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya tells court her brother said he had '˜sorted out' speeding ticket

Labour MP Ms Onasanya recalled receiving a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) letter relating to speeding on July 24.

She told jurors she had assumed she was at Parliament that day and left the letter for whoever was driving to complete.

“I jumped down to the date which was 24.7.17. I looked at my calendar on my phone and looked at what day the 24th was. I then folded back the letter put it back in the envelope, phoned my mum to say I’ve got a speeding something or other that’s come through.

“I then left it at my mum’s house. There’s an area in the living room where we leave post for one another if it needs attention.

“I made the assumption at the time that I would have been in Parliament because it was a Monday and then I left it with the relevant person who would have known who the driver was.”

She said she intended whoever was driving her car that day to complete the form, unaware it was her responsibility as the registered keeper.

But when she later received a letter saying the Russian no longer lived at that address, she spoke to her brother, Festus Onasanya.

“When I spoke to him, I can’t remember exactly, but paraphrasing him, he said it was sorted out,” she told jurors.

The MP went on to tell jurors that she suffered a relapse of multiple sclerosis in September last year.

She said: “I probably was not in the best head space. I’ve just been told I had got an incurable degenerative disease.”

Ms Onasanya denies one count of perverting the course of justice. Festus Onasanya has pleaded guilty to three counts of perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues.

More: Fiona Onasanya begins her defence at the Old Bailey