Transgender Tory MP Jamie Wallis guilty of three driving offences over crash

11 July 2022, 14:43 | Updated: 11 July 2022, 16:57

Transgender Conservative MP Jamie Wallis has been found guilty of three driving offences over a late-night car crash in south Wales.

Wallis, who has represented Bridgend since 2019, was found guilty of failing to stop, failing to report a road traffic collision and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position after a crash in south Wales late last year.

The MP was found not guilty of driving without due care and attention by District Judge Tan Ikram at Cardiff Magistrates' Court. He was disqualified from driving for six months and fined.

It comes after it emerged Wallis was wearing a "black leather mini-skirt" and "high heels" when he was involved in the 28 November crash, in which the Mercedes he is said to have been driving hit a lamppost and telegraph pole on Church Road in Llanblethian, South Wales.

Wallis claims he crashed after swerving to avoid hitting a cat and left the scene out of fear he would be "raped, killed or kidnapped" due to post-traumatic stress disorder which he developed after being raped in September.

Carina Hughes, prosecuting, said residents Adrian Watson and Natalie Webb were having a gathering when just after 1am they heard a "very loud bang, significantly louder than a domestic firework".

Mr Webb said he went outside and saw amber flashing lights and that a Mercedes E-Class saloon had crashed into the lamppost.

Mr Watson said he looked inside the car and saw "a white male wearing a white long-sleeve top which was tight to the body, a black leather PVC mini-skirt, tights, dark shoes with a high heel and a pearl necklace".

Ms Webb in her statement described the male as wearing "black court shoes".

The Conservative Party will not be taking further action against Jamie Wallis after he was disqualified from driving for six months.

A Whips Office spokeswoman 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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When he asked Wallis if he was okay, Mr Watson said the male said: "I'm sorting it. I'm sorting it."

Mr Watson said he was going to call the police and that Wallis began walking away from the scene.

He followed him and witnessed him make two phone calls, and during one he claimed he was being "accosted".

He was then picked up by his father in a Land Rover Discovery.

Police Sergeant Gareth Handy said that when he attended Wallis' family home address, which he described as a "mansion" and "absolutely colossal", he forced entry into the property out of concern for the MP.

Mr Handy said Wallis was eventually found in one of the rooms of the house and when he got to the room he said: "I saw Jamie had make-up on his face."

When police searched his flat at the property, they found a "blonde wig" on a table, the court heard.

Pc Louis Hall found Wallis in a bedroom within the house asleep and said: "He appeared to be wearing make-up. His eyelids were dark, his lips were red and his cheeks were bronzed, and he had red nail polish on his toes."

Wallis was found naked in the living area of a flat and given a modesty blanket until clothing could be found.

The black leather skirt and pearl necklace were found next to the bed and were seized by police.

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".

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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.

Asked to describe the incident in September 2021, Wallis said: "In September, I was raped."

Mr Rouch said: "You don't need to go through the details. But you were subjected to penetrative rape yes?"

Wallis said: "Yes."

Wallis continued: "It was profoundly distressing and traumatised. I became obsessed with what happened, I kept thinking about it, having nightmares and flashbacks.

"I would wake up in the middle of the night believing he was in my flat. I was hyper-anxious, and hyper-alert."

Wallis said he was diagnosed with PTSD after he was raped.

He claims he left the scene of the crash because he had a "PTSD attack" and felt "vulnerable" and "as if I was going to be attacked again".

In a prepared statement to police, the MP said he was in "pain and shock" after the collision.

"I noticed a group of people approaching and felt anxious," he said.

"Due to my medical condition and time of the day and the weather conditions I felt I needed to get away.

"When I got home I took my medication and felt drowsy.

"I have been recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder."

While being cross-examined, Wallis said he had been driving "relatively slow" when he saw the cat because he was approaching a double bend.

"I just remember instinctively swerving," he said.

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Miss Hughes suggested Wallis could have made an emergency stop rather than swerving.

"You have seen the damage to the telegraph pole and both airbags have discharged. That's not a low-speed collision?" she suggested.

"I don't recall how fast I was going, I just swerved to avoid the cat," Wallis said.

Ms Hughes said: "You hit it with such force that the pole snapped. The reason you hit the pole isn't because there was a cat, you were driving without due care and attention and resulted in you losing control and driving into that wall and telegraph pole."

Wallis replied: "That's not true. There was a cat and I swerved to avoid it."

Ms Hughes told Wallis he had enough time to phone the police after he arrived back in the safety of his own home, when analysis of his mobile showed he made a number of calls and text messages to his estranged wife.

Wallis said: "If I was able to, I would have done."

Wallis said he was raped at his London home but has not yet reported the alleged attack to the police.

"I haven't made a formal complaint. The police have invited me to sit down and have an informal chat with them."

He said he did not tell his psychiatrist about the rape until November 23, five days before the crash.

The trial is expected to last up to two days.

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