Speed charge MP ‘overwhelmed’ by Westminster life
‘He said it was sorted out’
A LABOUR MP accused of creating a web of lies to avoid a speeding penalty says she was ‘overwhelmed’ at the time as she adjusted to life at Westminster.
Fiona Onasanya, 35, also said she was ‘not in a very good space’ when the offence was being investigated after suffering a relapse of multiple sclerosis.
Giving evidence for the first time at the Old Bailey yesterday, she told jurors her signature had been forged on a letter to police that stated she was not driving when the Nissan Micra was caught doing 41mph in a 30mph zone.
Onasanya, who became MP for Peterborough in the May 2017 election, said she initially believed she was working in Westminster when the offence occurred in Cambridgeshire on July 24 last year, even though Parliament was in recess at the time. She revealed she waited for a year to check whether she was driving despite repeated attempts by police to question her.
The former solicitor, a Labour whip who is seen as a rising star of the party, said she was too ‘overwhelmed’ to answer questions when eventually interviewed by police on January 2 this year.
Asked how an outspoken MP and trained solicitor could be nervous when asked questions by officers, she said: ‘ The two are completely different.’
She told the jury her vehicle was used by her mother and brother Festus, as well as other drivers, leading to confusion about who was driving. When she received a notice of intended prosecution last August, she left the letter at her mother’s property believing that the speeding driver would fill it out.
Questioned about why she passed on responsibility, the politician accepted that it was her legal duty to fill out the document as the vehicle’s registered keeper.
The form was returned stating Aleks Antipow, a former Russian lodger, was driving. Police later discovered he was in Russia at the time. Onasanya told the Old Bailey she did not fill in the document. When a further letter was sent by police pointing out that contact details for Mr Antipow were not correct, her brother assured her that the issue had been resolved.
‘I can’t remember exactly, but paraphrasing him, he said it was sorted out,’ she said.
Mr Onasanya, 33, pleaded guilty last week to perverting the course of justice in relation to two speeding incidents and the speeding offence involving his sister. Onasanya said she was unaware her brother had nine points on his driving licence and had a previous drink-driving ban.
She denies one count of perverting the course of justice. The trial continues.