Jared O’Mara, who tried to claim £52k of taxpayers’ money to fund a cocaine habit, including bills for fictitious media and PR work, has been jailed for 4 years.
In the trial, the jury heard that the former Sheffield Hallam MP was sending fake invoices to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
This included £4650 of media and PR work and other fake invoices worth a total of £24k. There was also a false contract of employment, worth £28k.
O’Mara, who has autism, invented an organisation called Confident About Autism SY to run these invoices through.
The judge at Leeds Crown Court convicted O’Mara of 6 counts of fraud. He was not guilty of a further 2 counts.
His former Chief of Staff, Gareth Arnold, who sent invoices to IPSA on his behalf was given a 15 month suspended jail term.
“O’Mara clearly viewed IPSA as a source of income that was his to spend however he wanted – and that included funding his extensive cocaine habit,” said DC Kathryn Hughes of South Yorkshire Police.
“Our enquiries, including analysis of the defendants’ digital devices, revealed he was living well beyond his means and had a significant drug problem. He was in a dire financial situation, including being in debt to a dealer. It was evident he had seen this opportunity as a solution to his problems – all at the taxpayers’ expense.
“O’Mara was in a position of immense responsibility and trust as a Member of Parliament and for him to behave in such a way with public money is inexcusable.”
O’Mara unseated Nick Clegg in the Sheffield constituency in 2017. He quit the Labour party a year later and became an independent after he was suspended over comments he’d posted online, prior to becoming an MP.
He stepped down in 2019 – the same year that the fake invoices were submitted.
All of the invoices were rejected by IPSA, due to a lack of detail.
“We note today’s verdicts and want to thank the IPSA staff whose diligence meant that the irregularities were spotted and no money was ever paid in connection to the invoice submissions,” stated IPSA Chief Executive Ian Todd.
“Since 2010, the vast majority of Members of Parliament have followed IPSA’s rules, and the public should be assured that MP’s business costs are regulated independently and carefully.”
Judge Tom Bayliss KC told O’Mara:
“You must have realised early on that you were wholly unsuited to the role, but you carried on regardless, you brazened it out; drawing a salary, but doing little or no parliamentary work,”
“You are not here because of that and I do not aggravate your position because of it. It is irrelevant to these proceedings. That is a matter between you and those who elected you.
“You are here because you abused your position to commit fraud and you have shown not the slightest degree of remorse in respect of that.”
