A SUPPORT worker at a Bradford hospital has been jailed for fraud after he arranged for another man to do his driving theory test for him.

Leeds Crown Court heard today how Abiodun Bankole booked to do the test at the Huddersfield Centre on November 2, 2015, but staff became suspicious about the person who turned up.

The male produced Bankole’s provisional driving licence but he did not match the person pictured on it.

When he was challenged about his identity the man insisted he was Bankole and said he would go and get more identification.

“He left and was never seen again,” Richard Walters prosecuting told the court.

Later that day a telephone call was received from Bankole asking for his licence back saying he had not been able to return to the centre because of work commitments.

He subsequently made a further appointment to do the test on October 19 last year and on that occasion he did attend himself.

The test was started but an investigator and the police were notified and Bankole was arrested.

He claimed he had lost his driving licence in October 2015 and did not know how someone else had got hold of it and turned up to take the test.

“He has now resiled from that position,” said Mr Walters.

Bankole had told a probation officer he was under stress at the time because his mother was ill in Nigeria and a friend had suggested he knew somebody who could do the test for him.

“He agreed to this suggestion not thinking straight at the time," Mr Walters added.

Ken Green representing Bankole said he had never been in trouble with the law before. He was a support worker assisting in the care of adults with mental health difficulties at Lynfield Mount Hospital in Bradford.

At the time of the offence his mother was seriously ill and his uncle who lived near to her in Nigeria had also taken ill and died and he was under considerable stress and anxiety when he “resorted to this ruse which was never going to succeed.”

Mr Green said the photo on Bankole’s driving licence and the male who attended in his place bore no relation to each other and the “amateurish” attempt was bound to fail had he considered the situation properly. He urged the court not to jail him immediately.

Bankole, 41 of Ward Street, Bradford, admitted fraud and was jailed for five months.

Judge Sally Cahill QC said there had to be an immediate prison sentence because it was a serious case.

“The driving theory test is in place for a very good reason, to protect the public as a whole from people driving on the roads who might not have the ability to do so," she added.