A man who spent over four years working as a nurse under a stolen identity, putting vulnerable patients at risk and fraudulently earning nearly £173,000, has been jailed.
The Deception Unfolds
Ashton Guramatunhu, 46, first assumed the identity of a legitimate healthcare professional in late 2014. He used this fake identity to register with a nursing agency in Warrington, Cheshire, which allowed him to gain employment.
From 1 January 2015 until 5 April 2019, Guramatunhu worked across six different nursing homes in the northeast of England. Throughout this period, he was paid wages intended for the qualified nurse whose identity he had stolen, with the total fraudulent income reaching £172,920.94.
How the Fraud Was Discovered
The elaborate deception finally unravelled in January 2019. The Nursing and Midwifery Council contacted the real nurse regarding an incident at a care home where he was supposedly working. The genuine professional confirmed he had never been employed there, immediately raising the alarm.
The victim reported the identity theft to Cleveland Police, who began an investigation. The case was later transferred to Cheshire Police in 2020 after it was established that Guramatunhu had originally registered with the agency in their jurisdiction, in Warrington.
Sentencing and Police Statement
Appearing at Liverpool Crown Court on 2 December, Guramatunhu, of Middlepark Road, Dudley, was sentenced to 40 months in prison. He had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Naomi Sargent, who led the investigation, issued a stark warning. She stated: "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."
DC Sargent emphasised the danger he posed, adding: "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."
The detective also thanked officers from Cleveland, Northumbria, and Durham Police, along with Cheshire's Economic Crime Unit, for their collaborative work in securing the conviction.
