AN ASYLUM seeker used forged documents to secure a job as a support worker with vulnerable people in west Cumbria. 

Ndinelao Hamwaalwa, 34, landed the job with vulnerable adults after using fake certificates which falsely claimed she had trained and was qualified to administer prescribed medications and to perform CPR resuscitation in an emergency.

The defendant ultimately pleaded guilty to three offences, each linked to the job she did while working for Walsingham Support Cumbria.

At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Brendan Burke outlined the offences: two counts of fraudulently obtaining work through the use of false training certificates; and working in a job when disqualified by reason of her immigration status.

Mr Burke said the defendant was employed by Walsingham Support in west Cumbria between July 2023 and January of this year. The domiciliary care service provides support for older people and adults with disabilities and learning disabilities.

The "training certificate" which she claimed to have been awarded purported to be from the Florence Academy, an organisation which in reality had no dealings whatsoever the the defendant, said Mr Burke. 

Hamwaalwa worked 48 hours a week, earning £10 per hour. Over the period of her employment, she earned a total of £14,000, the court heard.

Mr Burke said the defendant benefitted from the use of a false identity document, provided to the employer by a man known as “Peter,” who was who running an illegal enterprise arranging work for foreign workers.

The prosecutor described this man – thought now to have left the country – as someone who was “far more significant”.

“He was behind the illegal enterprise arranging work illegally,” said Mr Burke. “He got his cut, no doubt.” The firm he established to carry out this illegal work was called PHC 100 per cent.

 Describing the work done by the defendant, Mr Burke said she was a support worker with elderly people in assisted living accommodation.

Mr Burke continued: “To get the job, she claimed proficiency in all sorts of areas, from manual handling to the most concerning [claim], the preparation and administration of medication.”

Such action had the potential for serious or even fatal consequences if doses are not correctly administered, said Mr Burke.

The defendant, a Namibian national, applied for asylum in February 2023 and this was refused in March the following year. She has appealed against that refusal and a decision on that appeal is pending.

She was granted permission to work while awaiting the result but this does not include work in the healthcare sector.

Marion Weir, defending, said the defendant’s offending was motivated not by greed but by a desire to live independently, albeit through illegal means. Hawaalwa had fled from Namibia after suffering assaults.

“Her decision to leave was not an easy one,” said the barrister.

“She left behind family and children; family members have passed away. She was a qualified lady in Namibia – qualified in business administration and project management.

“She simply wanted a better life for her children and hoped to achieve that by living in the UK.” Originally based in Southampton, Hawaalwa hoped to return there after her release from jail.

She has been held at Low Newton since May 6. She had commented that her life in HMP Low Newton was preferable to the regime she had lived under while in Namibia, said Miss Weir.

Judge Michael Fanning noted the abuse and trauma experienced by Hamwaalwa in her home country and her desire for a better life. She had come lawfully to the UK but then accepted an unlawful method to get work.

“You clearly knew that was the position but nonetheless you agreed,” said the judge. There was no verification that she had any of the skills she claimed to have in her fake certificates.

But she had not worked with clients on a one-to-one basis and there were colleagues she could turn to in the event of a medical emergency, observed the judge.

He jailed the defendant, formerly of Northam Road, Southhampton, for four months, which means she is likely to be released relatively soon. It would be for others to decide on whether the defendant can remain in the UK.

The charges admitted by the defendant were: 

* Fraud by false representation: That on May 1, 2024, she dishonestly made a false representation by supplying “false Florence Academy training certificates,” intending to make a gain, namely employment for herself.

* Fraud by false representation: that on or before July 7 last year she committed fraud in that she dishonestly made a false representation, supplying a false “social care tv training certificate,” intending to make a gain, namely employment.

* And working when disqualified by reason of immigration status:: That between July 6, 2023 and January 26, 2024, she was employed by a firm called PHC 100 per cent Ltd, working for Walsingham Support as a support worker without prior permission from the Home Office.

The fourth charge of possessing a fake identity document, namely a residence card in the name of Diana Markus, with the intention of inducing another - Walsingham Support - to use the document to verify personal information was dropped.

A second worker who committed a similar offence to obtain work with Walsingham Support, using fake documentation, is due for sentence next month.