A former Labour councillor accused of blackmailing a Conservative MP in an alleged Westminster “honeytrap” scandal has appeared in court for the first time.
Ollie Steadman, 28, is accused of using “menaces” to demand the phone numbers of 12 people from William Wragg, in February and March last year.
He has additionally been charged with five allegations of malicious communications, allegedly sending “grossly offensive or indecent, obscene or menacing” messages.
Steadman, who quit as a Labour councillor in Islington after his initial arrest in June last year, appeared in the dock at Westminster magistrates court on Monday.
He spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, and address in Pemberton Gardens, Archway, during the two-minute court hearing.
Prosecutor Vincent Scully told the hearing the charges are “all linked”, before Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram sent the case to Southwark crown court.
Steadman offered no indication of pleas to any of the six charges.
Steadman’s resignation as a councillor forced a by-election in the Hillrise ward in Islington, which he had represented for just two months.
The “honeytrap” scandal saw British MPs and political figures reporting that they had received explicit images and flirtatious messages from anonymous WhatsApp accounts and phone numbers.
The then-Conservative MP William Wragg resigned the party whip after saying that he had given the phone numbers of fellow MPs to a man he met on a dating app.
Announcing the charges last month, 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 was released on unconditional bail by the judge, ahead of a plea hearing on December 1 at Southwark crown court.
He is accused of blackmail and five counts of sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing message of matter.
