By Chantelle Billson
Copyright thepinknews
Former Labour councillor Oliver Steadman has been charged with blackmail and communications offences in the Westminster “honeytrap” case.
Steadman, 28, of Pemberton Gardens, north London, has been charged with 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 faces four further communication offence charges, including 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.
The 28-year-old had been a Labour councillor in Islington for only two months before resigning in July, following his June 2024 arrest. The arrest came after the Met Police launched an investigation after a number of men working in parliament were targeted in a Westminster honeytrap scheme, with MPs, staffers and political journalists receiving unsolicited messages – including explicit pictures – from people calling themselves “Charlie” or “Abi”.
The term “honeytrap” is used to describe using sexual and/or romantic relationships for personal, political or monetary gain. William Wragg, the then-Conservative MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester, revealed that he given contact details of his colleagues to the unknown party after sharing intimate pictures of himself with a person he met on the gay dating app.
Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’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.”
Steadman will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 3 November.
