Jared O'Mara: Former MP fails in legal bid to appeal fraud sentence

Jared O'Mara served as MP for Sheffield Hallam from June 2017 to November 2019

A former MP who was jailed for fraud has lost a legal bid to challenge his four-year jail sentence.

Jared O'Mara was found guilty of six counts of fraud after a trial at Leeds Crown Court in February.

The court heard O'Mara tried to obtain £52,000 of taxpayers' money to fund a cocaine habit by submitting bogus claims for parliamentary expenses.

At the Court of Appeal, his application to appeal the jail term was rejected by judges during a short hearing.

O'Mara was elected to Parliament for Labour in June 2017, unseating former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in the Sheffield Hallam constituency.

He quit the party the following year and became an independent after he was suspended by the party over comments he had posted online before becoming an MP.

The 41-year-old stood down in 2019, the same year the fraud offences took place.

• Former MP jailed over £52,000 fraud to pay drug debt

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Mrs Justice Lambert, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde and Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, refused permission to appeal after receiving written arguments, with no lawyers appearing in court.

Reading out a ruling, Mrs Justice Lambert said they found the challenge raised "no arguable ground that the sentence was manifestly excessive," adding that it was "wholly proportionate" to the offences committed.

Jared O'Mara was elected to Parliament for Labour in June 2017, but quit the party the following year

She said judges had concluded "without hesitancy" that the appeal "is not meritorious".

During his sentencing hearing, the court heard O'Mara submitted fake invoices worth £24,000 to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority for work that was not carried out.

He also submitted a false contract of employment for £28,000 on behalf of a man he pretended had worked as a constituency support officer, taking the total value of the fraud was £52,000.