A ZIMBABWEAN nurse has been sentenced to nine months' imprisonment at Liverpool Crown Court for obtaining a bursary and then employment in a private nursing home using forged documents.

Roy Kudzai Mapfumo, a part-time club DJ, overstayed his leave to remain in the UK and used forged documents to get his way around until he was busted following an investigation by the National Health Service (NHS) Counter Fraud.

Mapfumo of Southport, Merseyside, defrauded over £20,000 from the NHS and was convicted on two counts of false accounting in relation to the bursary and fraud in relation to obtaining employment.

The North Sefton Magistrates Court heard that in February 2001, Mapfumo was granted limited leave to remain as a student in the UK until the end of October the same year, but he failed to contact the Home Office when his leave expired.

He obtained a place on a three-year degree course in Adult Nursing at Buckinghamshire New University and was awarded an NHS student bursary of £20,317.10 using a forged vignette in his passport, which falsely indicated he had indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

He applied for his job at the nursing home using his Zimbabwean passport together with a forged Home Office letter indicating indefinite leave to remain with no restrictions on seeking employment.