Conservative MP to appear in court over motoring incident

Bridgend representative Jamie Wallis, the first openly transgender MP, is facing several charges linked to an alleged car crash in November 2021.

Jamie Wallis is to appear before Cardiff Magistrates’ Court (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

A Conservative MP is to appear in court charged with failing to stop after being involved in a car crash last year.

Jamie Wallis, 37, from Cowbridge, South Wales, has also been charged with failing to report a road traffic collision, driving without due care and attention and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position.

The representative for Bridgend and first openly transgender MP is to appear before Cardiff Magistrates’ Court later.

He was arrested on suspicion of “driving whilst unfit” following the late-night collision when a car hit a lamppost in Llanblethian on November 28.

Cardiff Magistrates’ Court (Benjamin Wright/PA) (PA Archive)

At the time, Wallis said he was “assisting police with their inquiries”.

In a highly public statement released in March, Wallis revealed he had been raped and blackmailed, and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He also said he wants to transition to be a woman.

He wrote he had been targeted by a blackmailer who threatened to out him to the public unless he paid £50,000.

The MP said the offender was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison after admitting his guilt.

He also disclosed he was raped by a man he “hooked up” with after meeting online, saying after the experience he “felt very ashamed and empty inside”, and suffered nightmares and flashbacks as a result.

He was praised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other MPs after posting the message online shortly before 3am on March 30, following a gathering for Tory MPs at which Mr Johnson reportedly made a joke about trans issues.

In an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Wallis gave advice to young people struggling with their gender identity.

He said he “wouldn’t wait as long as I’ve waited”, but there was “nothing wrong with just taking some time and discovering yourself”.

“When you know who you are, you are ready and you want to tell the world, there are people like myself who are waiting and we’re welcoming, we’re friendly and we’re here to help and support,” he added.

Wallis won his seat in December 2019, managing to oust Labour’s Madeleine Moon, who had held the constituency for 14 years.

The following month there were calls in the House of Commons from opposition MPs for him to apologise after company records showed he had held a business interest in a so-called “sugar daddy” website called Sugar-Daddy.net which was branded “exploitative and demeaning”.

In February this year, Wallis was fined £270 and received three points on his licence at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court after admitting the offence of crossing a solid white line while driving a Mercedes on the A48 in August 2021.