You might get stuck with a habitual criminal like Ashton Guramatunhu, a 46-year-old lifelong offender from Zimbabwe with 14 prior convictions for 34 offenses—who scammed nearly $200,000 in salary by stealing the identity of a real, licensed British nurse, Christmas Musaruwa.
Guramatunhu is definitely not a guy you would want at your bedside, injecting you with drugs, or recommending whether you are forced to stay in a psychiatric facility under England’s Mental Health Act 1983.
But he was doing all of that—illegally.
“I have no doubt that he would have continued his offending had he not been arrested.”
You’d think the officials responsible for patient safety would look into who they’re actually hiring.
You’d be wrong.
Guramatunhu was thus able to successfully scam the system from 2015 to 2019, during which time he worked for at least four different psychiatric facilities.
And for those four years, the con artist got clean away with it. His criminal activities only became known when a complaint about the use of restraint at Hope House prompted authorities to contact the real Musaruwa, at which point the jig was up for Guramatunhu.
He quickly flew the coop, leaving England. Upon his return, cops grabbed him at Heathrow Airport and off he went to the jailhouse.
Guramatunhu had been a trained nurse, but his criminal record, which included assaulting police and driving without a license, made it impossible for him to practice. Identity theft was his only “solution” to continue working, so that’s exactly what the huckster did.
On December 2, after Guramatunhu pled guilty to fraud, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison.
“He put the lives of innocent patients at risk, purely for his own financial gain, and I have no doubt that he would have continued his offending had he not been arrested,” Detective Constable Naomi Sargent said. “The sentence handed to him by the court reflects the severity of his actions, and I hope that it acts as a warning to others.”
Shockingly, Guramatunhu’s attorney, Steven Levine, painted his client as the “fall guy.” He said: “He has been remorseful. He has not been drinking for five years. He does not take drugs.… He was great with patients. It all comes to an end now.”
Oh well, since he’s sorry, I guess that makes his swindling okay, right?
The judge didn’t exactly see it that way.
“You persisted in the deception. You did not, at any stage, tell the four relevant care homes at which you were working your true identity,” Liverpool Crown Court Judge Louise Brandon told Guramatunhu. “You should not have been and had no right to work in the capacity you were in.
“There was significant planning, involving using the details of a registered nurse. This was fraudulent activity which was conducted over a sustained period.”
She then threw the book at Guramatunhu, who had also falsely reported zero income to the British tax authorities during the four years he was deceiving patients and employers.
In the end, Guramatunhu’s arrest doesn’t solve the larger problem: a psychiatric system so lax, so chronically negligent, that a convicted criminal could impersonate a nurse for years without anyone noticing. His sentencing closes his chapter—but the scandal he exposed is still wide open.
