Employee allegedly forged boss's signature for pay rise

A woman is facing trial for allegedly forging her boss’s signature to give herself a pay rise and a reduction of hours.

Jenny Lee Clarke, 42, was an MP's office manager when she supposedly boosted her pay by £2,000 to £39,000 and went from 40 to 37-and-a-half hours a week, the BBC reports.

It is claimed she forged Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris' signature on an Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) form in 2015, which agreed to the new terms of her employment.

Ipsa then contacted Harris to confirm the changes, but Clarke allegedly logged into the MP's account and replied: "Yes, this is correct." Prosecutor Jim Davis told the jury: