By David Hughes
Copyright standard
A 28-year-old man has been charged with blackmail and communications offences linked to Westminster figures.
Oliver Steadman will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 3.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the charges related to a total of five victims “working within politics and Westminster”.
Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division Malcolm McHaffie said: “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, of Pemberton Gardens in Archway, north London, has been 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 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.
