A Labour frontbencher has been accused of misleading the public over her son’s drug offences.

Kate Osamor found herself at the centre of a nepotism row when it was revealed she had made Ishmael her senior communications officer in April 2016. And when the 29-year-old was found guilty of drug offences in October Miss Osamor again found herself in the spotlight.

She defended keeping him in his £50,000-a-year job by claiming she had been unaware of his crimes at the time. But it can now be revealed that Miss Osamor was aware of her son’s legal situation – and even wrote to the judge for leniency and stressed his remorse, according to The Times.

Ishmael Osamor (left) and his MP mother Kate Osamor (right)

Ishmael was found with drugs worth £2,500 at the Bestival music festival in Dorset in 2017 and was given a community sentence on October 19.

When approached by reporters at her house last night, Miss Osamor, who is Labour’s international development spokesman, said she ‘should have come down here with a bat and smashed your face in’.

She threw a bucket of water at a journalist and called police.

Calls are now being made for Miss Osamor, who voted for Jeremy Corbyn to become Labour leader, to disclose what she knew about her son’s arrest in June last year and subsequent court hearings.

Former international development secretary Priti Patel last night demanded that the parliamentary standards commissioner launch an inquiry into what Miss Osamor knew – and about the continued employment of her son.

She said: ‘There are many questions outstanding here and Kate Osamor and the Labour Party must make a full statement about what they knew about this case and why he continued to be employed on the public payroll at Westminster.

Kate Osamor (right) voted for Jeremy Corbyn (left) to become labour leader

‘Serious questions must be asked about whether she has misled the public in her account so far of what she knew and when she knew it.’

Ishmael, who works full time in his mother’s office and lives with her in a £700,000 housing association property near Turnpike Lane in North London, pleaded guilty to four charges of possession with intent to supply cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis on September 18.

His case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports. The prosecution accepted he was looking after the drugs for friends and not selling.

Ishmael Osamor (pictured above) was previously sentenced to community service after being found with up to £2,500 worth of Class A and B drugs

On October 19 Judge Stephen Climie said he had received five references that played a ‘significant’ part in determining Ishmael’s sentence – 200 hours of unpaid work.

The details emerged after a legal application was successfully made to the courts by The Times and other media outlets.

Arguing that the information about Ishmael’s sentencing decision was in the public interest, they asked for publication of the five letters written in his support.

Judge Climie responded: ‘I accept that the public are entitled to understand the reasoning for a sentence being passed.’

Although the letters were not released, Judge Climie did identify three of their authors, which included Ishmael, his partner and his mother, who is the MP for Edmonton in north London.

The Labour Party had repeatedly claimed Miss Osamor, 50, did not know about the case until October 26. Both the party and Miss Osamor were contacted for comment last night.