A Gambian man who used false documents to get a job in the intensive care unit of a Bristol hospital has been jailed for five months.
Koniagi Camara, 44, also known as Jean Louis, arrived legally in the UK from The Gambia in 2004 and used the forgeries when his work permit expired.
He was employed as a health care assistant at Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) and paid £96,000 over four years.
The Home Office has yet to decide whether to deport him.
He was employed by the University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in 2006 and worked at the BRI’s intensive care therapy unit until he was found out in July 2010.
‘Very good job’
He had access to the wards but did not come into direct contact with patients.
His responsibilities included cleaning and replenishing the unit’s supplies.
Judge Carol Hagan, sentencing him at Bristol Crown Court, said: “I’m not condoning for one minute what you did. You used false documents to gain employment. But as far as I’m aware you did a very good job.”
The judge dismissed an application from the hospital trust for £96,000 compensation, and said if it had not employed Camara it would have had to pay someone else to do the job.
Debbie Lloyd, regional fraud manager for the NHS, said: “He presented forged documents to the trust which were very good forgeries.
“Unfortunately the trust at the time accepted them as genuine although they were later discovered to not to be.”
Source: BBCNEWS