Jamie Wallis: MP guilty of driving offences

An MP has been found guilty of failing to stop and report an accident after crashing his car in the early hours of 28 November last year.

Bridgend's Conservative MP, Jamie Wallis was also found guilty of leaving his car in a dangerous position.

He was cleared of a charge of driving without due care and attention.

Wallis was fined £2,500 and disqualified from driving for six months.

District Judge Tan Ikram dismissed one charge against Wallis and said the case had not been proven that the MP was driving without due care and attention.

Convicting him of the other charges, Judge Ikram said: "I am going to be upfront, I didn't find the defendant credible in the evidence he gave".

"When I watched him give evidence it seemed to me he fitting his own behaviour around the behaviour of PTSD, and his actions on that night does not suggest he was overwhelmed and acting out of fear that night."

Wallis had denied the traffic offences, which took place in Llanblethian, Vale of Glamorgan in the early hours of the morning.

He also told the court he had been raped a month before the crash and feared he would be "raped, killed or kidnapped" following the crash.

The MP said his car hit a lamppost to avoid a cat.

The Conservative MP, who was elected in 2019, became the first MP to come out as transgender in March. He identifies as he/him.

He told the court he had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being raped.

Judge Ikram added that having PTSD was not a defence.

He said the prosecution had proved that Mr Wallis was able to make decisions that night, but he made bad decisions.

"I am sure he was not prevented through PTSD to giving details or particulars and report the accident soon after, he made a decision he didn't want to be there, and made a decision to ring his father.

"Through all of that period he could have rang 999 or 101, he didn't.

"I am sure he didn't through a conscious choice, not through being overwhelmed or acting irrationally."