A NIGERIAN man ‘deceived safeguarding procedures’ to work shifts under a woman’s name, a judge has said as he spared him a prison sentence.
Lucius Njoku, 33, of Oliver Lane, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation in September.
It relates to taking shifts at the Countess of Chester Hospital as a healthcare worker where between February 16 and April 25, 2024, including in the A&E department, he worked under the name of co-accused Joyce George, who had been employed through an agency to work at the hospital.
Prosecutor Lisa McGuire told District Judge John McGarva that Miss George had since returned to Nigeria with a warrant for her arrest.
The pair had their phones seized by investigating officers where messages mapped out the shared shifts and that they gave no comment interviews.
She added: “Fortunately, there were no complaints about his work and no harm, but it is clearly an abuse of trust.”
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Mrs McGuire confirmed that Njoku had no previous convictions.
Steve Alis, defending, criticised the lack of identification between the two workers by the hospital and said that his client had come to the UK as a student.
He added that Njoku had run into financial issues, hence his agreement with George.
He said: “How this wasn’t picked up by management – he wasn’t pretending to be a male.
“His cheques hadn’t come through and that’s why he took the shifts.
“He is now fully qualified to work in the care sector but works at Vauxhalls and is now dependant on his wife.
“He hasn’t tried to downplay his role and said it was joint enterprise.
“He had the relevant qualifications to do the job, but he went about it the wrong way.”
DJ McGarva said that while no-one was harmed by this deception, it was serious enough to have crossed the custodial threshold.
He said: “You’ve pleaded guilty to this and although you were qualified to do the work, and without complaint, that’s not the point.
“You deceived your way into a job that required safeguarding checks and that undermines the DBS system – that’s I treat this as maximum harm.
“There is an argument for immediate custody to make an example of you, but you have strong mitigation.”
He was jailed for 16 weeks – suspended for 12 months – and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work plus a surcharge of £154 and costs of £85.
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