Fake certificate nurse joins Army

Gambian national Muctar Cham had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing

A Gambian student who used a forged UK birth certificate to become a nurse has joined the Army, a court has been told.

Private Muctar Cham, of Wilton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, said that he was born in Lambeth despite entering Britain on a student visa in 2002.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of using a false instrument at Birmingham Crown Court at an earlier hearing.

He was due to be sentenced on Friday but the case was adjourned until 3 August for pre-sentence reports.

Cham managed to obtain a bursary of £22,683 to train as an adult nurse at Kings College London.

'Nurse shortage'

The prosecution was brought by the NHS Counter Fraud Service.

Cham is based at the Alexander Barracks in Woking where he is training to be a soldier.

His barrister, Tarlow Chan Dubb, said that Cham was due to complete his basic training in three weeks and that the Army was planning to stand by him.

"They know what he has been charged with and they are standing by him. His captain was in court today," he said.

He added that there was a shortage of nurses in the Army.

An Army spokesman said that Cham was currently in training at the Army Training Centre in Pirbright, Surrey, but added that he could not comment further about an individual case.

Gambians are able to join the British army because the African country is in the Commonwealth, he added.