Former Tory MP walks free after altering passport to access gambling website
A former Conservative MP has walked free from court after admitting altering their passport to access a gambling website.
Katie Wallis, the MP for Bridgend in South Wales from 2019 to 2024, became the first openly transgender MP in the House of Commons in 2022. Wallis, who uses female pronouns and was previously known as Jamie, appeared before Cardiff Crown Court to plead guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act committed in April 2022 while serving as an MP. The court heard the 42-year-old had “on impulse, at a time of acute psychological distress” digitally altered a photograph or scan of her passport by changing her date of birth to access a gambling platform to circumvent her own self-exclusion. In a written basis of plea, Wallis said she had a “problem with gambling” prior to her election in December 2019 and had taken steps to address it by registering with a national self-exclusion scheme. “The problem was in remission when she was elected and, save for the conduct which is the subject of the indictment, it did not at any point affect the performance of her duties as a member of parliament,” the basis of plea stated. “In consequence, online gambling operators were not authorised to permit her access to their platforms, and she knew that she was not entitled to such access.” The court heard Wallis deposited money into an online gambling account, which was subsequently lost. “The defendant has not repeated this conduct. The gambling problem which lay behind the offence has not recurred, has not given rise to any further offending, and is no longer a feature of her life,” the basis of plea added. Prosecutors told the court Wallis had not tampered with or altered her own physical passport in any way. Judge Shomon Khan said Wallis’ culpability and harm caused was at “the lowest possible level”. “It was a single impulsive, unsophisticated act during a period of acute psychological distress where there was no financial loss to anybody, no data belonging to any other person was accessed, no computer system was damaged,” the judge said. “The only person who suffered financial loss was you. “Having regard to your guilty plea, all of the medical evidence, the substantial delay in this case, which you were not responsible for, your compelling personal mitigation and the professional and reputational consequences you have already suffered, there is little point in me punishing you further for this offence. “Rather than that I am going to impose a conditional discharge for a period of nine months. “If you commit any further offence in the next nine months, then this matter can be resentenced.” Wallis, who had represented herself during proceedings, was also ordered to pay a statutory surcharge of £26. The judge also formally entered not guilty pleas to two charges relating to the possession of a false passport, which the former MP had faced.
Published: by Radio NewsHub