A FORMER MP has been jailed for four years for faking expenses claims.
Jared O'Mara, of Walker Close, Sheffield, was yesterday found guilty of six counts of fraud, following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.
Today, at the same court, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the offences, which were perpetrated to fund his “extensive cocaine habit”.
The court heard that O’Mara tried to fraudulently claim taxpayers' money for work that was never carried out and jobs that didn't exist.
The 41-year-old, the MP for the Sheffield Hallam constituency from 2017 to 2019, went on trial for submitting “dishonest” invoices to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) between June and August 2019.
O'Mara, who has autism, even invented a charity — Confident About Autism South Yorkshire — for which fake invoices were also produced.
Four claims totalling £19,400 were submitted for the fictitious charity to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
South Yorkshire Police say the total value of O’Mara’s fraud was almost £52,610, although confirmed that none of the claims were ever paid, due to IPSA’s concerns.
"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.
O'Mara's former chief of staff Gareth Arnold, 30, of School Lane, Dronfield, was yesterday found guilty of three counts of fraud and cleared of three further counts.
He was given a 15-month jail term suspended for two years.
