A former MP's cocaine use was an "open secret" in the city in which he lived and worked, a court has been told.
Jared O'Mara, 41, who represented Sheffield Hallam from 2017 to 2019, is accused of submitting fraudulent expenses claims totalling nearly 30,000.
A co-defendant told Leeds Crown Court he took the drug at Mr O'Mara's flat up to three times, with the ex-MP joking about his drug use on social media.
Mr O'Mara denies eight counts of fraud.
The former MP, of Walker Close, Sheffield, was elected to Parliament for Labour in June 2017, but quit the party the following year and became an independent after he was suspended by the party over comments he'd posted online before becoming an MP.
He stood down in 2019, the same year it is alleged the fraud offences took place.
Co-accused Gareth Arnold, 30, of School Lane, Dronfield, Derbyshire, told the hearing on Wednesday he could "count on one hand" the occasions he personally had taken cocaine, with "two or three" of those at Mr O'Mara's flat.
During cross-examination from Mr James Bourne-Arton, for the prosecution, Mr Arnold told the court he never saw Mr O'Mara take the illegal drug but saw bags of it in his bathroom during a social gathering.
"It was very much an open secret that he took cocaine in Sheffield," Mr Arnold said.
"You just had to look at his Twitter, he was making jokes about it."
Discussing a message previously read to court about Mr O'Mara being a "few k in debt with a dealer", Mr Arnold said: "My...
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