Hospital hopper given criminal asbo

A homeless man who became an expert at faking illness so he could stay in hospital has been given a three-year criminal Asbo banning him from every NHS building in England and Wales.

Christopher Dearlove, aged 41, was arrested at Rochdale Infirmary after tricking staff there and in Glasgow, Cambridge, south London and Grimsby to get accommodation and food.

A judge at Bolton crown court has now banned Dearlove from using the NHS unless he is genuinely ill.

He knew which symptoms to report - and how to be classed as highly infectious so he could get his own room.

Tests showed there was nothing wrong with him.

Counter-fraud experts say the fraud has cost the NHS tens of thousands of pounds.

Each time Dearlove was admitted to hospital, it cost an NHS trust between £400 and £1,000.

He often claimed to be a haemophiliac with Aids, and would fake chest pain, night sweats and weight loss.

But when blood tests and X-rays showed there was no cause for concern, staff began to realise he was a so-called "hospital hopper".

Officers at the NHS and Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (NHS CFSMS) issued all hospitals with CCTV pictures of Dearlove and a description of his distinctive tattoos, to help catch him.

If Dearlove breaks the terms of his restrictions, he will be jailed for up to five years.