A CUMBRIAN charity unwittingly employed a man as a care worker for vulnerable adults after he supplied them with fake documents.

Jackson Shikesho, 37, landed the job after the employer was given convincing documents that confirmed he had several relevant skills, including expertise in dementia care, first aid, and medicines.

But the certificates were all fake, Carlisle’s Rickergate court heard. The defendant, a Namibian national who came to the UK to find work, denied any wrongdoing.

After a trial, he was found guilty of two allegations: fraud by false representation and possessing an article for use in fraud, a forged healthcare assistant certificate.

Both offences were committed in Carlisle.

For more than a year, Shikesho worked in north Cumbria with adults who have learning disabilities, the court was told. Outlining the offences, prosecutor Jackie Partington said the defendant landed a job as a care worker with Walsingham Support.

The job offer was made after he sent them a photo of himself, along with several documents that were relevant to his qualifications.

“There was a disclosure and barring certificate, a CV, a social care healthcare assistant certificate, and a certificate purporting to be from Social Care TV online training, though the agency has confirmed that this was false.

“They do not offer the course that is listed on that certificate.”

The skills the defendant claimed to have included “basic life support,” health and safety knowledge, medication control and dosage, dementia care, and fire safety training, said Miss Partington.

“He does not have those skills,” said the prosecutor.

Shikesho’s role involved him working alongside vulnerable adults, as the charity offers care to a range of clients, including older adults, those with mental health difficulties, people with learning difficulties, and clients with neurological complexities.

Throughout his employment, he earned an estimated £25,000.

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Duncan Campbell, defending, told the court: “He is a man who had the best of intentions; he came from Namibia in search of employment.”

It was a recruitment agency official who provided the false documentation involved and it was sent direct to the employer, and it was those documents that led to him being employed, said Mr Campbell.

He continued: “He was working for them for 12 months and this is then found out; they (the recruitment firm) are the real culprits. They were producing documentation which should not exist, trying to get people employment.

“He was working very successfully for 12 months.”

The defendant gave £2 out of every £12 he earned each hour to the agency who  helped him get the job. Referring to Walsingham Support, the lawyer added: “They were happy with the work he was doing.

“He was dealing with people with learning difficulties, helping them with their shopping and taking them to hospital appointments, and keeping their homes clean.”

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The suggestion that Shikesho’s employment put the lives of clients at risk was wrong, said Mr Campbell, adding that while the false certificates related to training the defendant did not have, he was not completely untrained.

District Judge John Temperley highlighted the “dishonesty” involved in Shikesho's offending – and the dishonesty of the recruitment agency.

He told the defendant: “You knew what you were doing was wrong, providing documentation which suggests you had qualifications you didn’t have.

“While most of your work may have been at a lower, more mundane level, the fact that your employer would have thought you capable of undertaking greater [responsibility] produced risk to the people you were caring for.

"That's a real aggravating factor.”

While accepting that Shikesho was helped by those who provided the fake documents, Judge Temperley said the offence merited custody. He jailed Shikesho, of Thimble Mill Road, Smethick, Sandwell, for 26 weeks.

Bosses at Walsingham Support have spoken of their shock at being duped by the fake agency workers, including Shikesho.