Crooked MP who was thrown out of politics is booted out of the legal profession too

Crooked former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya who lied to avoid a speeding ticket today has been thrown out of the legal profession.

The disgraced former solicitor was clocked doing 41mph in a 30mph zone on The Causeway in Thorney, Cambridgeshire, shortly after 10pm on 24 July 2017.

She claimed she was not driving and was jailed for three months following an Old Bailey trial,for perverting the course of justice, losing her parliamentary seat shortly afterwards.

But she told a disciplinary tribunal today she is innocent as she faces being struck off the roll of solicitors.

The tribunal found she had failed to uphold the proper administration of justice, failed to act with integrity, behaved in a way likely to undermine public trust in the profession and by reason of her conviction acted dishonestly.

Onasanya, 35, told the Solicitor’s Disciplinary Tribunal: ‘I always said, and I maintain that I did not do an act intending and intended to pervert the course of justice.

‘I have pointed out that it was not said that I was driving the car that was not part of the issue.’

Having been found guilty of the charges she will now argue against being struck off and having to pay £22,762 in costs for 40 hours work by Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority.

Onasanya, who rose to party whip while serving as the member of parliament, represented herself at hearing and appeared at the tribunal with her mum.

Nimi Bruce, for the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, said: ‘The court found by 2 November 17 the respondent was aware that false information had been provided to the police by her brother.

‘Ordinary, decent people would consider the behaviour giving rise to the conviction dishonest.’

The disciplinary panel heard Onasanya qualified in November 2015 and worked in commercial property law until becoming an MP in June 2017 and no longer holds a certificate.

She plotted with her brother Festus, 34, to avoid prosecution for speeding by naming Aleks Antipow as the driver of the Nissan Micra.

Mr Antipow, the sibling’s former lodger, was at home with his parents in Russia 1,800 miles away.

Onasayna was jailed for three months and her brother received 10 months in prison.

She served 28-days in HMP Bronzefield, Surrey, the largest women’s prison in Europe and likened her tribulations to the suffering of Jesus.

Onasanya said: ‘In times like these, the natural inclination of believers is to ask God: why? I personally do not, because in my experience the answers are usually far above and beyond my reach,’ said

‘What I do know is that I am in good biblical company, along with Joseph, Moses, Daniel and his three Hebrew friends, who were each found guilty by the courts of their day.

‘While God did not save them from a guilty verdict, he did save them in it and ensured that their greatest days of impact were on the other side of a guilty verdict.

‘Of course, this is equally true of Christ, who was accused and convicted by the courts of his day and yet this was not his end but rather the beginning of the next chapter in his story.’

Onasanya insisted she had could not remember who had been driving her car – and she had left a form dealing with the notice of prosecution for her brother to fill in.

But during the first trial her former head of communications, Dr Christian DeFeo, and his wife approached prosecutors with dramatic new evidence.

They told the court Onasanya had been with them on the night the car was caught by the speed camera just yards down the road.

Onasanya was a former county councillor who won the Peterborough election on 8 June 2017.

Her appeal against conviction was thrown out at the High Court in March.

Striking Onasanya off the roll of solicitors, panel chair Edward Nelly said: ‘The respondent Ms Onasanya has been faced with allegations which have been found to be proven in full.

‘These findings include a finding of dishonesty which lead to the conviction for undertaking an act intended or was intended to pervert the course of justice.

‘That conviction we are aware has led to disastrous consequences both personally and professionally and take full account of those. As a solicitor there are professional consequences which follow from a proven act of dishonesty.

‘As a parliamentarian makes the law so a solicitor must uphold the law and rule of law and sadly in this case Ms Onasanya has failed in those duties.

‘We believe that we have not heard anything that would amount to exceptional reasons that would prevent us from administering the ultimate sanction.

‘We must strike off Ms Onasanya from the roll of solicitors.’

The panel further ruled she must pay costs of £6,562 to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.

‘I maintain and stand by the fact that I did not do what I have been subsequently convicted of which is why I am actively pursuing avenues to clear my name,’ Onasanya said.

She said she is now looking at an appeal through the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

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