Former Conservative MP Katie Wallis has received a nine-month conditional discharge after pleading guilty to a Computer Misuse Act offence for altering a digital image of her passport to access an online gambling website.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Wallis changed the date on the passport image on her own computer in April 2022. She then used it to circumvent a GamStop self-exclusion restriction and deposit money on the site. Wallis represented Bridgend from 2019 to 2024.
Wallis had registered with GamStop after recognising she had a gambling problem. The service enables customers to block themselves from UK-licensed gambling websites. The money she deposited was lost, but no other person suffered a financial loss.
The physical passport was genuine and had not been altered. Wallis did not use another person’s identity or passport image. Two counts concerning possession of a false passport, including possession with improper intention, were formally dismissed after she accepted the alternative Computer Misuse Act charge.
Judge Shomon Khan accepted that the conduct was a single impulsive act undertaken during a period of psychological distress, and that Wallis had compelling personal mitigation. Her defence said she had been suffering from a serious mental disorder after coming out as transgender while serving as an MP, becoming separated from her family and publicly disclosing that she had been raped.
The prosecution said Wallis had co-operated in bringing the case to a conclusion. She subsequently reapplied to be blocked from gambling websites, and her written plea said she had not repeated the conduct and that the gambling problem behind the offence was no longer a feature of her life.
A conditional discharge means Wallis faces no further punishment if she commits no further offences during the nine-month period. Judge Khan warned that the case could be resentenced if she committed another offence within that time.
