A&E doctor is jailed over hepatitis lies

Daniel Mutunda's deception meant 60,000 patients had to be tested for the contagious and potentially deadly virus.

After a blood test showed he had hepatitis, which can cause liver cancer, he managed to find work by passing off a friend's blood sample as his own.

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When the fraud was exposed Mutunda was banned from practising by the General Medical Council.

But astonishingly he was able to continue working in hospitals, earning a total of £250,000, because no one checked up on him properly.

Mutunda, 43, who was born in Congo, arrived in Britain in 1999 and qualified as a doctor in 2001.

He applied for a job at the King George Hospital in London, but a blood test revealed he had hepatitis B and he was turned down.

Using a friend's blood sample, Mutunda obtained a certificate from a clinic showing employers he was clear of disease and began applying for work again.

Rising to senior house officer, he took a variety of jobs as a locum and full-time doctor in casualty units throughout Britain, earning up to £100 an hour.

But by chance a woman who had processed Mutunda's original job application recognised him when he tried to re-apply using a different date of birth.

When challenged, Mutunda, a Christian, claimed he had cured himself through prayer.

After an inquiry the married father-of-three was suspended by the General Medical Council in May 2004.

Despite the ban he continued to practise, getting work in accident and emergency departments through an agency before finally being arrested in 2005.

Judge Simon Jack told Hull Crown Court that Mutunda had 'shown a degree of arrogance'.

He added: "If you had made a mistake and failed to use gloves or something of that sort a patient could have been infected.

"When the true position came to light and the investigation took place there must have been a huge amount of worry for anybody who became aware that they had been treated by you."

Bernard Gateshill, defending, said Mutunda was 'racked with guilt and remorse' and described him as 'a conscientious and reliable doctor'.

But outside the court Detective Sergeant Dave Wescott said the sentence was 'too lenient'.

He added: "It shows a massive loophole in the NHS procedure to me. He applied for jobs using this certificate which no one checked. He was even suspended by the GMC and was able to carry on getting work."

A spokesman for the GMC said it was up to hospitals to ensure doctors had the 'appropriate form of registration'.

Mutunda, of Ventner Gardens, Barking, last month admitted three counts of gaining employment through deception.

The hospitals he worked at between 2001 and 2005 were Hillingdon Hospital, Barnsley Hospital, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Hull Royal Infirmary, Whittington Hospital in North London, York Hospital, West Middlesex University Hospital, Conquest Hospital in East Sussex and Preston Hospital.

None of the 60,000 patients tested was found to have caught the virus.