JARED O’Mara, the Sheffield and Hallam MP now suspended by the Labour Party, has seen his scary past come back to haunt him, his very own Banquo’s ghost appearing in the form of 15-year-old internet content.

It’s hard to find sympathy for the social media devil. He has a faux contrite face you would never tire of slapping; a creature who can date women and later describe them as “ugly b******”, a homophobe and an apparent jazz hater who suggested Jamie Cullum be sodomised with a piano.

But his punishment prompts a serious question; when does the statute of limitations run out on bad behaviour? And aren’t we all guilty of saying things – in jest or in drink – in our younger days? One of the MP’s sins included hoped for orgiastic fun with Girls Aloud. Which young priapic hetero amongst us hasn’t once thought of polygamous love action with a female pop combo?

He is at least guilty of bad taste however, given that Girls Aloud included toilet attendant face-batterer Cheryl Tweedy. When Tweedy married a fitba player she was soon elevated to Nation’s Telly Darling.

Does this suggest we forgive so much more of those who are attractive, famous and talented? Robert Downey Jnr, for example, was once so coked out of his face he’d wake up in strangers’ beds. Now he’s Iron Man.

Ricky Tomlinson, an acting prince after his stint in the Royle Family, was once a National Front member who went on to become a trade union activist and was jailed for standing up for fellow workers. He has rightly 
been accepted as a historical 
fool.

Closer to home, Jimmy Boyle once committed unspeakable acts in the name of gangsterism – but hasn’t had a parking ticket since he became a businessman/art dealer.

Yet, can we really change? Do we truly remain who we once were? Is the ugly comment of the younger mind fundamental to our being?

A recent article in Psychology Today suggests we do evolve. “Personality changes can still occur depending on new life experiences. Even the kind of social roles we take on can change our personality. And as our lives change, so do our personalities.”

The theory suggests why we should forgive the likes of Paisley MSP Mhairi Black, whose cyberspace rants included Celtic fans being described as “scum” and a desire to headbutt Labour opponents when she learned the Yes side had lost.

Ms Black however woke up (literally) to the realisation getting “s****faced” and social media sharing aren’t a great combination. But it shouldn’t define her.

And who among us can’t say we’ve not been guilty of some form of discrimination? The Avenue Q musical theme song Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist works because it contains a truth. (On a personal level it manifests itself by asking if all Americans should be allowed to vote.)

But while psychological theory suggests we cut younger miscreants some slack, should we forgive all historical sins? Take the case of Anne Perry, a successful crime writer now living in Scotland. In 1954, the then 15-year-old and her friend bashed her friend’s mum on the head with a brick 20 times. Is this forgiveable, even though Perry was a minor? Can we forgive the Jamie Bulger killers? Hard to.

Does 600  years of history help? One of the nation’s greatest historical writers is Sir Thomas Mallory MP, legend for his writing of Arthurian legend, Le Morte D’Artur. But who cares now if his personal CV includes thief, bandit, kidnapper, and rapist? A gentleman scumbag indeed.

Clearly, there are no hard and fast rules on forgiveness. Most of us won’t forgive Islamic State members returning to the UK, no matter how repentant. Can Donald Trump change – yes, most likely for the worse. And Harvey Weinstein is deemed irredeemable.

But Mr O’Mara and his ill-informed, moronic comments? Perhaps judgement day should have been the next General Election, when he’s assessed by those who work alongside him, or by his constituents. If the MP’s comments had been made in the 1970s they would have disappeared into the ether. But social media freezes you in that moment. 

There is an argument he is only now saying he’s changed because he’s been found out. That has weight. But perhaps his idiocy was drink and immaturity fuelled. What’s a little worrying is he’s been swept up in Hurricane Harvey.

Let’s be less puritanical. Stop demanding the ends of careers unless the crime is truly heinous. If he’s been sacked for reasons of bringing politics into disrepute, should that not have been the case for all the expenses fiddlers, or the Prime Minister with a predilection for inserting his member into porcine orifice?  And just maybe, he has “been on a journey”, perhaps he’s now reformed since those forum days. But if it’s proven the bug-eyed ginger boor is still trashing people at the age of 36, that smug face of his should be skelped. Hard. Figuratively, of course.