Hospital carer is jailed for ID fraud
AN illegal immigrant who lied to get a job looking after ‘vulnerable’ patients at Macclesfield Hospital has been jailed.
Joshua Olajide Jideolaleye, 40, used another man’s identity to get a job at an agency.
The Nigerian national then worked as a care assistant at the hospital for five weeks before he was discovered.
Ffion Tomos, prosecuting, said: “His actions put patients at risk because he had not had the proper criminal checks or qualifications checks.”
Jideolaleye, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Crewe Magistrates Court on June 5.
Between April 29 and June 3 the defendant worked 36 shifts at Macclesfield Hospital, earning £3,500.
He was jailed for 16 months by Warrington Crown Court on Friday, July 10.
The Recorder Mark Ainsworth said: “This was a sophisticated fraud and showed a degree of planning. The actual gain is relatively limited.
“The fact is that you were responsible for the personal care of patients, some who were vulnerable.
“The safeguards were circumnavigated by you by your fraudulent application for the position.
“This has an impact on the hospital and the wider health service as a whole.”
Jideolaleye, who had been living in the country illegally since having his asylum application refused in 2011, now faces being deported.
The court heard that Jideolaleye had arrived in the UK in 2005 using fake documents.
He claimed he was being threatened by the Nigerian mafia and sought asylum, prosecutors said.
Jideolaleye qualified as a care assistant and worked in Manchester until his asylum application was refused in 2011, the court heard.
Desperate to support himself, Jideolaleye began using the name of another man, prosecutors said.
The fraud was discovered by two employment agencies and Jideolaleye was arrested at the hospital on June 3.
Simon Parry, defending, said: “He qualified as a care assistant in 2006 and worked around Manchester until his status was determined.
“He was trying to support himself.
“If proper checks had been done from the outset when he first worked at Macclesfield hospital it would have been painfully obvious the person on the ID and the defendant were not the same.
“He has since written to the hospital apologising for his actions.”
In a statement after the hearing, a spokesperson for East Cheshire NHS Trust, which runs Macclesfield Hospital, said: “The trust recognised the seriousness of this issue and notified the police as soon as it came to light.
“A thorough independent investigation set up by the chief executive into the incident is close to completion and there is no evidence that any patient was harmed as a result of this fraudulent activity.”