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<\/em><\/p>\n A former Labour MP jailed for expenses fraud has lost a Court of Appeal bid to challenge his four-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n Jared O\u2019Mara was found to have \u201cabused his position\u201d by trying to claim about \u00a352,000 of taxpayers\u2019 money for work that was never done and jobs that did not exist. The 41-year-old, who represented the constituency of Sheffield Hallam from 2017 to 2019, went on trial for submitting fake invoices to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) between June and August 2019.<\/p>\n He was accused of making fraudulent expenses claims to fund an \u201cextensive\u201d cocaine habit, with Judge Tom Bayliss KC later saying at sentencing that it had been \u201ccynical, deliberate and dishonest\u201d. O\u2019Mara sought permission to appeal his sentence, but his renewed application was rejected by the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Read more… <\/strong> Disgraced MP Jared O\u2019Mara hilariously mocked on his OWN Twitter<\/strong><\/p>\n Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice Lambert, came to their decision after receiving written arguments, with no lawyers appearing in court. Reading out a ruling, Mrs Justice Lambert said the judges found the challenge raised \u201cno arguable ground that the sentence was manifestly excessive\u201d, adding that it was \u201cwholly proportionate\u201d to the offences committed.<\/p>\n She said judges had concluded \u201cwithout hesitancy\u201d that the appeal \u201cis not meritorious,\u201d she said. Leeds Crown Court previously heard that O\u2019Mara made four claims for a total of \u00a319,400 from a \u201cfictitious\u201d organisation called Confident About Autism South Yorkshire.<\/p>\n A jury found he also submitted a false contract of employment for his friend John Woodliff, pretending he worked as a constituency support officer. O\u2019Mara, a former nightclub manager, was cleared of two fraud charges over invoices from another friend, Gareth Arnold, for media work that prosecutors claimed was never carried out.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> But he was convicted of an offence of fraud after emailing Ipsa in February 2020, falsely claiming the police investigation into him had been completed and he was entitled to be paid the two invoices relating to Arnold, which totalled \u00a34,650. Prosecutors said the total value of the fraud was about \u00a352,000, including Mr Woodliff\u2019s proposed salary of \u00a328,000.<\/p>\n Arnold, who became O\u2019Mara\u2019s chief of staff in June 2019, was sentenced to 15 months suspended for two years after a jury found him guilty of three fraud charges, but cleared him of a further three. Mr Woodliff was cleared by the jury of having any role in the fraud.<\/p>\n Prosecutor James Bourne-Arton previously said the fraud was not a victimless crime and that it had an impact on other MPs \u201cbecause it undermines public trust and confidence in them\u201d. Mark Kelly KC, defending O\u2019Mara, said he wanted to apologise to his constituents for failing to resign in October 2017, when controversial comments he made online before becoming an MP were revealed, and that he had felt \u201chounded by the media\u201d.<\/p>\n He told Leeds Crown Court that O\u2019Mara was \u201can inadequate individual to cope with the stresses and strains of public life\u201d and \u201cresorted to taking drugs, alcohol and distancing himself in many respects from those that were around him\u201d. Mr Kelly said: “These circumstances were very difficult circumstances for him to cope with, with his particular disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n But Judge Bayliss said the apology was \u201centirely disingenuous\u201d, while also finding that O\u2019Mara\u2019s autism did not reduce his culpability. O\u2019Mara won Sheffield Hallam for Labour from former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Nick Clegg in 2017, but later left the party after a series of controversies. He stayed in office as an independent MP but did not contest the 2019 general election.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/139\/590x\/secondary\/O-Mara-4980169.jpg?r=1695762846730\")
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