Jared O'Mara: What the judge told former Yorkshire MP about his crimes as he jailed him

At Leeds Crown Court, Judge Tom Bayliss KC jailed Jared O’Mara for four years following the crimes which were committed as he served as Sheffield Hallam MP betwene 2017 and 2019.

At the time of the fraud, O’Mara had financial difficulties “caused by a hedonistic lifestyle fuelled by the consumption of large amounts of vodka and, of course, cocaine”, the judge said.

The judge told him: “You do indeed have autism spectrum disorder, and cerebral palsy. This has not stopped you from working in the past, nor seeking election as a member of parliament.

“Nor should it. Everyone in a democracy should be able to participate, including, whatever their disability, putting themselves forward for election as a Member of Parliament.”

The judge said after being diagnosed with autism in February 2018 O’Mara was allowed to employ a support assistant.

But, he said: “What you never did … was to avail yourself of the services of Confident About Autism South Yorkshire. You couldn’t, because it simply didn’t exist.

“The work claimed for in the invoices had never been done. The post code given for the organisation was a McDonalds fast food restaurant in Sheffield.”

The judge said the fraud was “cynical, deliberate and dishonest”.

He told O’Mara: “I have concluded that, although Jared O’Mara was without doubt suffering from autism at the time of the offences, that does not reduce culpability. You, Jared O’Mara, are a highly intelligent man. You were, I am quite sure, able to exercise appropriate judgment, to make rational choices, and to understand the nature and consequences of your actions.

“You may have occasionally behaved bizarrely or demonstrated disordered thought.

“But whether that was caused by your disorder or by your consumption of drugs (or both), is neither here nor there so far as this fraud is concerned.

“You knew perfectly what you were doing with this fraud, you were behaving perfectly rationally, if dishonestly, and you were using your autism diagnosis to extract money from Ipsa to fund your cocaine and alcohol driven lifestyle. It was deliberate, it was cynical and it was dishonest.”