Ex-Labour councillor charged over Westminster blackmail allegation

An ex-Labour councillor has been charged with blackmail following an investigation into an alleged Westminster honeytrap.

Oliver Steadman, 28, is accused of blackmail and communications offences linked to five Westminster figures, the Metropolitan Police said. The charges include one count of blackmail in relation to alleged unwarranted demands for the contact telephone numbers of up to 12 individuals.

He has also been charged with a communications offence of improper use of a public electronic communications network, in relation to the same victim. Steadman, of Islington, north London, also faces four further communications offence charges over the improper use of a public electronic communications network, in relation to four other victims.

This relates to the sending of alleged unsolicited indecent images. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 3 November.

Then senior Conservative MP William Wragg resigned the party whip in April 2024 after he admitted giving politicians' phone numbers to a suspected scammer he met on a dating app. Malcolm McHaffie, head of the CPS's Special Crime Division, said: "We have decided to prosecute Oliver Steadman with blackmail and five communications offences in relation to a total of five victims working within politics and Westminster.

"This follows an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service which looked into messages that included alleged unsolicited indecent images sent to a number of people within parliamentary political circles between October 2023 and April 2024 using Whatsapp. "Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.".