PHOTO: MailOnline
A male migrant borrowed a female friend’s identity to tend to seriously ill patients in the A&E (Accident and Emergency) unit at the UK NHS hospital where killer nurse Lucy Letby worked, a court heard.
Lucius Njoku, 33, fraudulently used the name of agency nurse Joyce George to work as a healthcare assistant at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester.
Letby was employed at the beleaguered hospital between 2012 and 2018 and is serving 15 life sentences after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempted to kill seven others – one twice – in 2015 and 2016.
Three former senior managers are being investigated for gross negligence manslaughter. The Care Quality Commission currently rates the hospital as requiring improvement.
Njoku was not spotted by colleagues despite wearing the woman’s NHS name badge – complete with clear photograph, Chester Magistrates’ Court heard.
Over two months between February and April, he washed and dressed patients, and carried out observations. He was only found out when a suspicious patient confronted Njoku and the fraudster blustered: ‘My name is Joyce – but I am a man’.
Inquiries revealed George, 32, also a Nigerian national living in nearby Ellesmere Port, obtained a job at the hospital via an outside agency after a successful interview.
But she allowed Njoku to do her shifts under her name. It is not clear where he obtained his NHS uniform.
Police raided George’s home and found Njoku at the address. Mobile phones taken from both suspects showed exchange of text messages relating to shifts at the Countess.
Both declined to comment in police interviews.
At Chester Magistrates’ Court, Njoku, who lives with his NHS worker wife at a different address at Ellesmere Port, admitted fraud by false representation.
He received a 16-week prison term suspended for 12 months – plus 80 hours unpaid work. He must also pay £239 costs and surcharge.
It is not known whether he will be deported as he is a ‘dependent’ on his wife’s work visa.
George fled the UK after she was charged with fraud and is thought to have returned to Nigeria. An arrest warrant was issued.
Lisa McGuire, prosecuting, told how George obtained a job at the Countess via an outside agency after an interview.
Ms McGuire said: ‘She permitted Njoku to do her shifts under her name.
‘Fortunately, no harm was done and there were no complaints about Njoku’s work. But it is the access which is the serious concern.’
Njoku, who came to Britain as a student, had no previous convictions. His solicitor Steven Alis said it was ‘perhaps surprising’ his presence ‘was not picked up by management’.
Mr Alis said Njoku was a qualified nurse but that ‘safeguarding checks had not come through’ at the time of the shifts.
He added: ‘He accepted the seriousness of the matter. Since then, he has obtained the appropriate authorisation but has chosen not to work in the care industry. Instead, he now has employment at Vauxhall through an agency.’
Mr Alis said that Njoku’s wife is a health care worker who came to the UK as a dependent on his original visa – but Njoku himself is now dependent on her visa for work purposes.
The defence accepted that if Njoku was allowed to remain in Britain, ‘he may come to attention of the Home Office if he offends again’.
Sentencing on Thursday, District Judge Jack McGarva told Njoku: ‘You deceived your way into a job which requires safe guarding checks.’
The judge said: ‘That undermines the system. Although you were qualified and you did the work without complaint, that is not the point.’
–MailOnline
