Woman faked nursing and Army experience, jury told

Tanya Nasir denies the nine counts of fraud and fraud by false representation

A woman accused of lying about her qualifications for a senior nursing job in a premature baby unit falsely claimed to have served in the Army, a court has heard.

Tanya Nasir, 45, told interviewers at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend that she served in Iraq and was "shot at" in Afghanistan. She also asked if she could take time off each August for a Territorial Army training camp if she got the job.

Ms Nasir worked at the hospital from September 2019 until February 2020 before being suspended following concerns about her CV and the date of her registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

She denies nine counts of fraud and false representation.

Lance Corporal Natalie Mitcham told the court she had examined the Defence Recruitment System, which holds records for the Army and the Army reserves.

She said Ms Nasir, from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, failed in her attempt to join the Army reserves in 2010 and in 2015. In 2010 she failed the basic fitness test, then tried to join again in 2015 but her application was deferred and later terminated.

The court was later told Ms Nasir did serve as an adult volunteer in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Army Cadet Force for two-and-a-half years between 2013 and 2016, leaving with the rank of Sergeant Instructor. But this was a voluntary role working with young people.

During her interview at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, Ms Nasir told the staff she had been shot at in Afghanistan

When she applied for the post at the Bridgend unit, which cares for sick and premature babies, Ms Nasir had claimed to have substantial nursing experience in major hospitals, the court was told.

She said she had worked with premature babies as a Band 5/6 Neonatal Sister/Staff Nurse at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London between 2010 and 2015.

The jury also heard Ms Nasir claimed to have been employed in maxillo-facial surgery, emergency operating theatres and the accident and emergency department as a Band 5 nurse between 2004 and 2007 with the West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust.

She also claimed to have worked in the adult intensive care unit at Watford General Hospital as a Band 5 nurse.

The HR departments for the hospitals said she has never been employed by them in any capacity, the court was told.

However, Ms Nasir was appointed to the managerial nursing role at the neonatal unit in Bridgend and supplied a reference from a nurse called Maureen Westphal who worked with Ms Nasir at the Hillingdon Hospital in London.

In a statement read to the court, the hospital's head of employee relations Wendy Fiddes said Ms Westphal was not in a supervisory role and would not have been authorised to provide a reference.

The Princess of Wales hospital began an investigation in February 2020 following concerns about Ms Nasir's CV.

The trial continues.