London Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in prison in Bangladesh after being found guilty of corruption following a trial in her absence.

The ex-minister, who is MP for Hampstead and Highgate, was convicted of influencing her aunt, Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to secure a plot of land for her family in the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

Siddiq strongly denied the charge and insisted she was the victim of a political smear.

The London MP is unlikely to serve the jail sentence handed out on Monday. She was also fined the equivalent of £620.

The court in Dhaka also sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to five years in prison for corruption involving the government land project.

Rabiul Alam, the judge of Dhaka's Special Judge's Co

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