Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya Released After One Month Behind Bars

She was handed a three-month sentence in January for perverting the course of justice.
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Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya has been released from prison after serving one month of a three-month sentence for perverting the course of justice.

The former Labour MP – who was expelled from the party last month – was convicted in January after the Old Bailey heard how she had lied to avoid a speeding charge.

Onasanya, who has vowed to sit in the Commons as an independent MP, was driven out of HMP Bronzefield in Surrey on Tuesday morning.

Now free, the vocal Remainer will be able to take part in Wednesday’s Commons debates and votes on Brexit.

However, according to the Daily Mail, she will have to wear an ankle tag as part of her early release programme. 

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Jurors at her trial were told that she colluded with her brother Festus after her car was clocked speeding at 41mph in a 30mph zone in a village near Peterborough in July 2017.

A friend of Onsanya’s brother was named as the guilty driver, despite the fact he was visiting his parents in Russia.

But the 35-year-old MP – who is a solicitor by profession – has vowed to appeal her conviction.

Onasanya is expected to have to obey strict conditions as part of her early release.

While a jail sentence of at least 12 months is required to automatically remove an MP under parliamentary rules, she could still be forced out of her seat.

Indeed, a by-election could be triggered if a recall petition was signed by 10% of the electorate in her constituency.

But this cannot begin until Onasanya’s appeal against her conviction ends.

Neither of Onasanya’s offices in her constituency or Westminster responded to requests for comment on when she would be returning to the Commons.