An MP who was found guilty of lying to the police to avoid speeding charges has comparing herself to Jesus as she maintained her innocence.
Following a re-trial at the Old Bailey, former Labour whip Fiona Onasanya was urged to quit after being convicted for perverting the course of justice.
The 35-year-old solicitor was accused of colluding with her brother Festus after her vehicle was spotted driving at 41 miles per hour in a 30 mile zone across Peterborough.
In a message that was sent to fellow Labour MPs across a number of WhatsApp groups this morning, and was leaked to The Times, Onasanya compared her plight to biblical figures including Moses and Jesus Christ.
Despite pressure from her party to resign, Onasanya implied that she would not quit, saying this was instead “the beginning of the next chapter” of her “story” - as it was with Jesus.
“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,” she wrote.
The message read: “As many of you are already aware, due to widespread media coverage, I was found guilty of perverting the course of justice. Although I vigorously maintained my innocence, the jury has decided that I am guilty.
“I campaigned for justice and for the interests of ordinary people throughout my entire working life to date, but it is this which has made both national and international press. The first jury was dismissed having failed to reach a decision last month but the second jury reached their conclusion within days.
“Regardless of what you believe or suspect, the fact remains that I Fiona, sought to be the choice and voice of change - but this may now take a different path.”
Onasanya stated that she will not question God about the verdict and she knows that she is “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”.
The ex-Whip then asked recipients to pray for her and family.
Her conviction looked likely to trigger a by-election in the marginal constituency of Peterborough, where Onasanya beat sitting Tory MP Stewart Jackson by just 607 votes – just weeks before her car was caught speeding.
During the re-trial, Onasanya said evidence her mobile phone was in use in the vicinity of the speed camera was proof she could not have been driving.
“I don’t use my phone when driving,” she told the court. “I would have had to have been a passenger.”
Onasanya, who worked as a solicitor before being elected in 2017, will be sentenced alongside her brother on a date yet to be determined.
HuffPost UK has contacted Onasanya for comment.