Abstract
Sir: In January 2007, IJSA published an article that outlined the 15-year exploits of Christopher Dearlove.
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This hospital hopper had hundreds of admissions to hospitals throughout the UK feigning HIV illness. I was in regular contact with the NHS Security Management Service Legal Protection Unit passing details onto them of various hospitals he had managed to get admitted to. The Legal Protection Unit had difficulty with the situation and I quote from an email from them to me in November 2007: We have considered bringing fraud charges against the individual in question. However, there are difficulties in that the legislation relating to obtaining services specifically refers to services for which payment is expected. We do have an alternative avenue via the Civil Courts. However, we have been advised that in order for this to be done we have to be able to serve papers either on him in person or on an address he is believed to be resident at. Our attempts at locating him have, so far, proved unsuccessful. However, we have had a recent development which may prove more fruitful. We do share your concerns at his apparent immunity from any sort of sanction over his behaviour. However, I would like to reassure you that we have not given up trying.
I am now delighted to say that he was finally sentenced at Bolton Crown Court. He was arrested and charged in October 2009 by Greater Manchester Police after turning up at Rochdale Infirmary. On 1 June, he was given a three-year Community Order with a supervision requirement. He was given an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO), which stated he must not provide any false information or details of false illnesses to any NHS staff. The judge warned him that he faced a possible prison sentence of up to five years if he breached this ASBO.
Hopefully, that is the end of the Chris Dearlove story and his 19-year saga of wasting time and money of genitourinary medicine and infectious disease departments. Many doctors will, indeed, remember him and should he ever again turn up feigning illness, the police should be contacted.