One of Labour's worst ever MPs has been charged with seven counts of fraud relating to his brief time in office. Jared O'Mara (pictured) was elected in the 2017 general election in a shock victory over former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg. His two year stint as MP for Sheffield Hallam was a litany of disasters and he did not stand for re-election in 2019.
The 39-year-old is one of three men to face charges and stands accused of seven counts of fraud by false representation. His former aide, Gareth Arnold, faces six counts of fraud by false representation. The third man, John Woodliff, is charged with entering into an arrangement which facilitates the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property by another. O'Mara and Woodliff also face a joint charge of entering into an arrangement to facilitate the acquisition of criminal property.
A spokesperson for the Crime Prosecution Service said: "The charge relates to an allegation he [O'Mara] made fraudulent invoices to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority jointly with Gareth Arnold, who is also charged with six counts of the same offence".
The trio will appear before Sheffield magistrates on September 24.
An ignominious end for a dreadful political career? That remains to be seen, but there is little doubt that O'Mara has been a walking disaster for Labour regardless of the outcome.
He was not expected to win the seat when he was hurriedly selected after Theresa May's snap election announcement. A Corbyn supporter, naturally, things began to unravel for him when historic tweets emerged that would have put England cricketer Ollie Robinson to shame. By the time he bothered to make his maiden speech to the House of Commons a full 13 months after being elected, he had been suspended from Labour, readmitted and then bizarrely resigned to continue as an independent. O'Mara would go on to excuse his lack of attendance and poor casework on various excuses, primarily several physical and mental disorders including cerebral palsy and autism. When constituents called on him to resign he publicly insulted them.
In July 2019 his co-accused Gareth Arnold took to O'Mara's Twitter account to publicly resign his post in a brutal thread (see below).
Later that same month O'Mara was accused of sexually harassing a member of staff, for which he was later barred from the Palace of Westminster. And this is just the abridged version of his long list of indiscretions during just two and a half years in office.
Priceless.
