A Conservative MP who fled the scene of a car crash won't face any action by his party. Jamie Wallis, who has represented Bridgend since 2019, had denied four driving offences but was convicted of three after a trial.
He was found guilty of failing to stop, failing to report a road traffic collision and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position but found not guilty of driving without due care and attention by District Judge Tan Ikram at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on Monday, July 11. Following the verdicts Wallis was disqualified from driving for six months and fined £2,500. Wallis, 38, from Crossways House, Cowbridge, was also ordered to pay additional costs of £620 and a victim surcharge of £190 within 14 days. See our report of the trial here.
In his sentencing, the judge said he did not find Wallis to be "credible". "When I watched him give evidence it seemed to me not only was he fitting his own behaviour around the behaviour of PTSD and his actions on the night does not suggest he was overwhelmed and acting out of fear that night," the judge said.
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The court heard on November 28 last year, the Mercedes he was driving hit a lamppost and telegraph pole in Church Road in Llanblethian, Vale of Glamorgan. Wallis claimed he left the scene of the crash out of fear he would be "raped, killed, or kidnapped" due to post-traumatic stress disorder which he developed after being raped in September.
Taking to the stand Wallis said the day before the crash he was at home "wearing clothes I felt most comfortable in, which I often do when I’m alone, which are women’s clothes". Peter Rouch QC, defending, asked Wallis: "How long have you felt like this?" Wallis replied: "Since I was a small child."
Wallis said he would describe himself as transgender. In March 2022 Wallis became the first MP in the UK to come out as transgender. Wallis revealed in the same public statement that he had been raped. You can read the full court story here.
His party said a spokesperson for the party's Whips Office said: "Jamie Wallis MP has been found guilty of various offences and it is right that he has been punished. We will not be taking any further action and will continue to provide welfare support."
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