Speeding ticket MP’S aide had ‘duty’ to go to police
‘Morally unacceptable’ not to give evidence against Fiona Onasanya who ‘lied to avoid a speeding ticket’
THE former aide to a Labour MP felt “morally and legally” obliged to give evidence against her after learning she had tried to dodge a speeding ticket, a court has heard.
Fiona Onasanya, 35, MP for Peterborough, told police she was not driving her car when it was clocked at 41mph in a 30mph zone in Thorney, Cambs, on the evening of July 24 2017.
She is accused of lying about the incident and plotting with her brother, Festus, 33, to blame a Russian man, Aleks Antipow, as the person behind the wheel when the camera was triggered.
After reading about the trial, her former head of communications, Dr Christian Defeo, contacted police to say that the MP had visited him on the night of the alleged speeding offence.
Appearing at the Old Bailey, Dr Defeo said he had discussed with his wife, Christina Earle, whether to come forward and give evidence against the MP, and decided it was his moral duty.
He said: “I worked for Ms Onasanya and I have had enormous hopes invested in her. I never dreamed in my darkest dreams or thought that I would be sitting here. It is with the greatest reluctance that I have had to do this, but to do otherwise, I cannot. It is morally and legally unacceptable.”
Dr Defeo told the court that he had run Ms Onasanya’s 2017 election campaign and had also penned a “Westminster Life” column on her behalf in the local newspaper.
He said that after realising the alleged offence had taken place on the road where he lived on the night she had visited him, he decided to contact police.
Asked what time she arrived, he said: “I cannot say a specific time. However, she arrived late and was there quite late because we offered her a bed to stay the night.
“She arrived in her car, a Nissan Micra. She arrived alone. She pulled up her car in front of our house and I greeted her at the door.” Asked how long the meeting lasted, he said: “As far as I am aware, no less than two hours.” Dr Defeo also told the court he had never seen anyone but Ms Onasanya behind the wheel of her Micra and was not aware of her knowing anyone else in the village of Thornley.
The court heard that there had been a “bit of a falling out” between the MP and Ms Earle after an event marking 100 years of Labour in Peterborough was cancelled by Ms Onasanya.
Asked by the prosecutor David Jeremy QC whether he “had it in” for Ms Onasanya as a result of the dispute, Dr Defeo said he did not, and added: “From day one I wanted her to succeed.
“I wanted her to be a great MP and I said on a number of occasions that I wanted her to be an MP as long as she wanted to be.
“It’s a terrible thing to have to do this.”
Ms Onasanya, from Peterborough, denies one count of perverting the course of justice.
Her brother has pleaded guilty to three charges of perverting the course of justice, including to one related to the July 24 incident.
The trial continues.
‘I said on a number of occasions that I wanted her to be an MP as long as she wanted to be. It’s a terrible thing to have to do’