Bogus nurse Denice Stewart spared jail over fraud
by Alan McGuinness
A bogus nurse has avoided jail after admitting she
worked at several GP surgeries in Medway while
unqualified.
Denice Stewart had admitted eight charges - three of fraud, two
of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, theft, possessing
articles for use in fraud and using a false instrument with
intent.
The 48-year-old mother was given a jail sentence of 20 months
for each of the offences, to run concurrently. This was suspended
for two years, meaning if she offends again within that time she
will go to prison.
Stewart was working in Kent between 2006 and 2011 when she was
not qualified and falsely represented she was a registered
nurse.
Two of the fraud charges relate to the Bryant Street Medical
Centre, in Chatham, and the Brecon Medical Group in Wales.
She was employed at three GPs' practices in Medway – one in
Chatham, and two in Gillingham. She carried out a number of
procedures, including smear tests and vaccinations.
Prosecutor Alan Gardner told Maidstone Crown Court Stewart first
fell under suspicion when she was working in Wales in May 2011 when
the practice manager became concerned about her credentials.
He looked at her file and saw that there were two dates of
birth. One of these was for Amaya Lloyd-Johnson, whose identity
Stewart used to gain work as a nurse.
Stewart had moved into her house in Durham in
2003 and received forms from the Nursing and Midwifery Council
because Miss Lloyd-Johnson failed to update her address.
Mr Gardner said: "She worked at several GPs round the country
carrying out a number of medical procedures she was not qualified
to undertake."
In 2009, the NMC became suspicious when Amaya Lloyd-Johnson
contacted them about her registration. But that was as far as the
matter went, which Judge Jeremy Carey said was a "worrying state of
affairs".
The discovery of the two dates of birth was when the net began
to close on Stewart, who sat in a red coat with her head bowed
throughout the hearing.
The practice manager at the surgery in Wales contacted the NMC
and this led to Stewart's arrest in July 2011.
07/03/13
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