Ashton Guramatunhu has been sentenced to 40 months in prison after stealing a nurse’s identity to work in multiple care homes (Picture: PA/Cheshire Police)
A man who stole a genuine nurse’s identity to work in care homes across the country has been jailed.
Ashton Guramatunhu, 46, from Dudley, registered with a nursing agency in Warrington using the identity of a nurse to get employment, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Between January 1, 2015, and April 5, 2019, he went on to work at six nursing homes in the northeast of England.
Through his fraudulent activity, Guramatunhu earned an estimated total of £172,920.
Guramatunhu’s story unravelled in January 2019, when the Nursing and Midwifery Council contacted the real nurse whose identity he had stolen, regarding his fitness to practise at a care home where he had never even worked.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
In 2020, the case was passed to Cheshire Police after it was established that Guramatunhu was registered to an agency in Warrington.
At an earlier hearing, he pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation.
Ashton Guramatunhu appeared at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday (Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Yesterday, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
More Trending
-
Sarah Everard's mother 'still tormented by the horror of her final hours'
Channel: UK UK 13 hours ago By Sam Corbishley - Schoolchildren injured after bus roof ripped off ploughing into low bridge
- Did you spot mysterious beam of light that was visible across the UK this morning?
- First picture of girl, 16, killed after minibus full of teenagers crashes into car
Following the sentencing, DC Naomi Sargent, who led the investigation, said: ‘Guramatunhu should never have been working as a nurse. While he had been to university, his previous convictions meant that he was not suitable to work in the care sector.
‘He put the lives of innocent patients at risk, purely for his own financial gain, and I have no doubt that he would have continued his offending had he not been arrested.
‘The sentence handed to him by the court reflects the severity of his actions and I hope that it acts as a warning to others.
‘I would like to take this as an opportunity to thank all of the officers who have been involved in the investigation, including colleagues at Cleveland, Northumbria and Durham Police, along with staff from our Economic Crime Unit who all played key roles in helping to bring Guramatunhu to justice.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Arrow MORE: Police hunt masked youths who smashed mosque window with traffic cone
Arrow MORE: Catholic nun ‘stabbed herself’ in attack locals blamed on a migrant
Arrow MORE: New measures brought in to make rape trials more fair to victims
Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source Breaking NewsNever miss the biggest stories with breaking news alerts in your inbox.
Email I agree to receive newsletters from Metro I agree to receive newsletters from Metro Sign UpSign UpThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy