A BOGUS doctor who pretended to be a GP for a decade has been jailed after being caught faking a DNA sample to avoid maintenance costs for a child he had with a one-time lover.

Conrad De Souza, of Whitmore Road, Beckenham, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation after lying about being a GP for a decade.

Croydon Crown Court heard De Souza had worked in different roles in the NHS between 2001 and 2010, despite not having the necessary qualifications.

The charges relate to being paid by Lewisham PCT after falsely claiming to be a GP and deceiving Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Authority into paying him to be a clinical advisor by saying he was qualified for the position.

Prosecutor Robert O'Sullivan said the 53-year-old had lied about having three years experience at a busy practice in Beckenham.

The court heard his CV "could be described as a work of fiction" and that he had used details of another doctor with a similar name to get the jobs.

The Tanzanian born British citizen, who enrolled at the University of London medical school in 1980 but never graduated, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the deception.

A third charge of fraud by false representation, relating to a bogus degree certificate, which De Souza denied, was dropped by the prosecution.

Sangita Modgil, mitigating, said De Souza had come from a successful family and could not cope with having failed university. She said describing himself as a doctor was something of huge importance to his self-esteem.

A spokesman from NHS Lewisham said De Souza had never treated patients, examined them or prescribed medication to them while in his roles as clinical advisor at NHS Lewisham and as assistant clinical director for the South East London Cardiac and Stroke Network.

Judge Simon Pratt described his behaviour as “brazen” and said he had been “deeply dishonest and wilfully manipulative.”

He said: “You were an articulate, driven and deeply dishonest man without any apparent conscience about what you were doing.”

In a separate case heard at Bromley Magistrates' Court in July, previously unreported due to legal restrictions, De Souza pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by false representation after falsifying a DNA sample.

De Souza was asked to supply the sample after medical researcher Silke Luetzelschwab became pregnant following an affair.

The court heard he supplied the DNA of a close male relative, most likely his father's.

Speaking after sentencing, Stuart Richards, the principle legal enforcement manager for the Child Support Agency in the south east, said De Souza had been “living a lie”.

He said: "This was perhaps the most sophisticated attempt to cheat a mother and child out of financial support that the CSA has ever seen.”

He was jailed for nine months, to run consecutive to his other sentence.

In total De Souza will serve 27 months in prison.