Aide ‘outed as gay’ by Labour MP is cleared of fraud

A FORMER aide to a shadow equalities minister was yesterday cleared of fraud after a trial in which she accused her ex-boss of outing her sexuality.

Jenny Lee Clarke, 42, was office manager for Carolyn Harris, the Welsh Labour deputy leader and Swansea East MP, and was accused of submitting a form increasing her annual pay from £37,000 to £39,000 and decreasing her weekly hours from 40 to 37.5.

Miss Clarke was accused of forging Mrs Harris’s signature on the form, which was submitted to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), in August 2015.

However, a jury at Cardiff Crown Court took less than 90 minutes to find Miss Clarke, of Penllergaer, Swansea, not guilty of forgery and fraud.

The trial also heard allegations that Mrs Harris had “outed” Miss Clarke, who is gay, to colleagues and referred to her “dyke boots”.

In a statement, Mrs Harris said: “When I uncovered evidence of wrongdoing in my office, I immediately reported it to the relevant authorities. However, in this instance the jury found the case was not provable beyond reasonable doubt.”