Commercial property law specialist charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice
A junior lawyer turned Labour MP has been charged with two counts of seeking to pervert the course of justice. Fiona Onasanya has said she “will be robustly defending” herself against allegations she lied about who was driving a speeding vehicle.
The 34-year-old MP for Peterborough is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 13 August for a plea hearing. Her brother Festus Onasanya faces three counts of the same offence.
According to BBC News, the commercial property law specialist is accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice by driving a vehicle in excess of the speed limit, falsely informing the investigating authorities that a third party had been the driver and enabling them, as a consequence, to avoid such prosecution and punishment.
The incidents are said to have occurred on 24 July and 23 August 2017. During the July incident, Onasanya is alleged to have been driving — and during the August incident, her brother is alleged to have been driving.
Onasanya studied law at the University of Hertfordshire before going on to complete the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the College of Law (now the University of Law), according to her LinkedIn profile. She qualified in 2015 and has worked for a number of firms including Midlands outfit Howes Percival for six months and international outfit Eversheds (now Eversheds Sutherland) for three years.
Taking to Twitter on Friday morning, Onasanya said she will be “robustly defending all these allegations”.
I will be robustly defending all these allegations, and strongly refute any suggestions that I have broken the law. As these proceedings are now ongoing, I will be making no further comment on the matter.
— Fiona Onasanya (@FionaOnasanyaMP) July 27, 2018
Onasanya was elected as Peterborough MP in 2017 with a majority of 607 following a shock win over Conservative MP Stewart Jackson.
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