Ex-Tory MP for Bridgend admits altering passport image to access gambling website

A former Conservative MP has admitted illegally altering a date on an image of her passport in order to access a gambling website.

Katie Wallis, who uses female pronouns and was formerly known as Jamie Wallis, was due to stand trial on two charges of possessing a false passport and possessing a false passport with improper intention.

Wallis, who represented Bridgend from 2019 to 2024, has been found formally not guilty of those charges after agreeing to plead guilty to a new charge under the Computer Misuse Act.

She was given a conditional discharge for nine months in a hearing at Cardiff Crown Court.

Prosecution barrister Richard Posner told the court that Wallis had a “recognised gambling problem” and had “taken action” to deal with the issue by registering with Gamstop, a service that bars someone from accessing gambling websites.

In April 2022, while suffering “acute psychiatric distress”, Wallis used her own computer to digitally edit the date on an image of a passport to access an online gambling site.

The court heard that Wallis had a genuine physical passport which had “not been altered or tampered with” and that she had not “attempted to use an image of anyone else”.

The judge was told that Wallis deposited money onto a gambling website which was subsequently lost, but that no one else suffered any financial loss.

The court heard this was on a single occasion and that Wallis had acted on an “impulse”.

Subsequently Wallis has re-applied to be blocked from using gambling sites.

The court heard that, at the time of the offence, Wallis was suffering from a “serious mental disorder” after coming out as transgender while a sitting MP, having become separated from her family and having publicly disclosed having been a victim of rape.

Posner told the judge that Wallis had cooperated with the prosecution to reach a conclusion in this case.

Judge Shomon Khan said he accepted this was a “single impulsive” act in a “period of psychological distress” and that Wallis had provided “compelling personal mitigation”.

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