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| Labour MP Carolyn Harris' aide cleared of pay rise fraud | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A former aide to the deputy leader of Welsh Labour has been cleared of fraudulently increasing her salary. | |
| Jenny Lee Clarke, office manager for Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris, had been accused of committing fraud and forgery by rising her salary by £2,000. | |
| Ms Clarke, of Penllergaer, Swansea, denied the charges and claimed the pay rise was authorised. | Ms Clarke, of Penllergaer, Swansea, denied the charges and claimed the pay rise was authorised. |
| A jury at Cardiff Crown Court found her not guilty of all charges. | A jury at Cardiff Crown Court found her not guilty of all charges. |
| Ms Clarke had been accused of submitting a form which increased her annual pay from £37,000 to £39,000, and decreasing her weekly hours from 40 to 37.5. | |
| It was alleged that she had forged Mrs Harris' signature on the form, which was submitted to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), in August 2015. | |
| A jury of eight men and four women was told the alleged offences came to light when Ms Clarke was demoted and her replacement examined staff reports detailing hours and salary. | |
| She was arrested in July 2016 and later charged with forgery and fraud. | |
| In police interview, she admitted signing Mrs Harris' name on the form and sending the email from her account but insisted both were done on the MP's instruction. | |
| Mrs Harris was elected as MP for Swansea East at the General Election in 2015, after her predecessor Sian James stepped down. | |
| Both Mrs Harris and Ms Clarke had worked for Mrs James before the election. | |
| The trial heard allegations that Mrs Harris had pulled the hair of the defendant so hard that clumps came out. | |
| She was also accused by Ms Clarke of "outing" the defendant, who is gay, to colleagues. | |
| Mrs Harris said the allegations were "totally untrue". | |
| Speaking outside the court, Ms Clarke said: "I'm just elated it's concluded. Words cannot describe." |