Fake Nurse Sentenced After Four-Year Deception in UK Care Homes

A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to over three years in prison for posing as a qualified nurse for more than four years, earning nearly £173,000 while working in six care homes and placing vulnerable patients at risk.

A man who impersonated a registered nurse for more than four years, working in multiple care homes across northeast England, has been jailed for 40 months for fraud.

Ashton Guramatunhu, 46, assumed the identity of a genuine healthcare professional when registering with a nursing agency in Warrington, Cheshire, in late 2014. Between January 2015 and April 2019, he worked at six different nursing homes, earning an estimated £172,920.94 in wages before his deception was uncovered.

The fraud came to light in January 2019 when the legitimate nurse, whose identity Guramatunhu had stolen, was contacted by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) about an incident at a care home where he had never worked. The victim reported the identity theft to Cleveland Police, with the investigation later taken over by Cheshire Police.

Guramatunhu, of Dudley, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on December 2.

Detective Constable Naomi Sargent, who led the investigation, stated: “Guramatunhu should never have been working as a nurse… 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 court heard that despite attending university, Guramatunhu had previous convictions that made him unsuitable to work in the care sector. The case highlights significant vulnerabilities in pre-employment vetting processes within temporary healthcare staffing and raises serious concerns about patient safety in regulated care environments.

The sentencing follows a multi-force investigation involving officers from Cleveland, Northumbria, Durham, and Cheshire police.