Former Conservative MP admits altering passport image to bypass Gamstop

Former Conservative MP Katie Wallis admitted digitally changing the date on an image of her passport to bypass a gambling self-exclusion scheme and access an online betting site, Cardiff Crown Court has heard.

Wallis, who represented Bridgend from 2019 to 2024 and was formerly known as Jamie Wallis, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act. Two counts relating to possession of a false passport were formally dismissed after she accepted the alternative charge. She received a nine-month conditional discharge.

Court hearing

Prosecutor Richard Posner told the court that Wallis had a recognised gambling problem and had previously self-excluded through Gamstop, a scheme that allows customers to block themselves from UK-licensed gambling websites. In April 2022, while in what the prosecution described as “acute psychiatric distress”, Wallis used her own computer to alter the date shown on an image of her passport. She then used it to get around the restriction and deposit money on a gambling website. The money was lost.

The court heard that nobody else suffered financial loss. The passport itself was genuine and had not been altered or tampered with, the court was told. Wallis had not tried to use another person’s identity. She has since re-applied to be blocked from gambling sites.

The judge described the offence as a “single impulsive” act committed during a “period of psychological distress” and accepted that Wallis had provided “compelling personal mitigation”.

Mitigation and plea

According to reporting by the BBC, the defence said Wallis was experiencing a serious mental disorder following a period of intense personal turmoil, including coming out as transgender while serving as an MP, family separation and publicly disclosing that she had been raped. The prosecution said she had co-operated in bringing the case to a conclusion.

Wallis herself had admitted to having a “problem with gambling” in a written plea. The plea stated that 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 judge warned that if Wallis were to commit any further offence in the next nine months, then this matter can be resentenced.

Just two weeks earlier, three people linked to the Conservative Party were sentenced for committing offences under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 over an election betting scandal.