A 37-YEAR-OLD Zimbabwean who got jobs as a care assistant and a mental health nurse using false documentation has been jailed for seven months.

A judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court in England told Richman Matinyadze that in one sense it was to his credit he had gained employment after being granted asylum in the United Kingdom and been a "good worker."

But he added, "You did it on a false basis. What you did undermines the system operated in this country for controlling immigration."

Mark Rees, prosecuting, said Matinyadze claimed asylum in 2006 and it was granted on a temporary basis on condition he did not seek work - paid or unpaid.

But he obtained a job with a healthcare centre as a care assistant and he was paid £200 a week but he used a counterfeit passport to get the employment.

Matinyadze then obtained work with a mental care trust as a nurse after producing a counterfeit Home Office letter which stated he had been given leave to stay in the UK indefinitely and that he could gain employment.

All together Matinyadze worked from December 2007 to November 2009 and, for his duties, he earned around £25,000, Mr Rees told the court.

Matinyadze, of Falcon Way, Brierley Hill, admitted four charges of possessing false documentation and the judge ruled he would be released from custody "very quickly" because he had already been held for 105 days on remand.

But he said his future in this country was now in the hands of the Borders Agency and they would decide whether he would have to be deported back to Zimbabwe.

Jodie Smith, defending, said Matinyadze, a man of previous good character, had been an excellent worker and he had been highly praised for the role he carried out.

She said “he felt a moral instinct to seek work” to support his wife and two children in Zimbabwe.