Woman faked having cancer and HIV to claim £22,000 sick pay from employer

An office worker took home more than £20,000 in sick pay after falsely telling her employer she had contracted HIV from being raped and had cancer.

Emma Rorison forged her own sick notes using the names of real doctors, but when her firm asked to see the medical records she steadfastly refused.

The 50-year-old customer relations advisor also lied to her employer and she said she had been a victim of medical negligence and had developed both liver and kidney tumours.

In total, she claimed £22,102.92 in sick pay from insurance provider Domestic and General, in Station Street, who dismissed her from her role when the fraud was uncovered, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

During a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court Rorison was handed a 20-month jail term, which was suspended for two years.

Recorder Adrian Jack told the court: ‘Over an extended period of time you pursued your employer to grant you more than £22,000 in sick pay you were not entitled to.

‘You carried out an extensive case of fraud and created fictitious letters from the hospital which resulted in you receiving substantial sums of money you were not entitled to.’

Rorison began her job at Domestic and General on November 6, 2017, and made her first claim around a year later, requesting to change to a flexible working schedule as she was undergoing cancer treatment for a brain tumour.

Laura Hocknell, prosecuting, said : ‘On May 14, 2019, occupational health reported she was having ongoing cancer treatment including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In December 2020, she told them she’d had an operation to have lymph nodes removed but they had grown back.

‘In 2021, she said she was undergoing dialysis for a kidney tumour and also had a liver tumour. She said she had been the victim of medical negligence.

‘In September 2021, she said she was suffering from anxiety due to the radiotherapy and in 2022 said she had been raped and had contracted HIV. Her employer asked for consent to see her medical records but she refused.

‘She then sent letters to her employer claiming to be from doctors at Woodthorpe Hospital which supposedly confirmed her HIV. An employee at Woodthorpe hospital then confirmed these were not genuine letters. She was called into Domestic and General and dismissed.

‘They reported matters to the police. She was interviewed on October 10, 2023, and admitted she created the doctor’s letters.’

Rorison, of Rose Grove, pleaded guilty to fraud and has no previous convictions.

Sian Barber, mitigating, said her client ‘did have genuine health concerns’ but admits that ‘matters spiralled completely out of control’, leading to the offending. She said: ‘I accept on her behalf this was committed over a sustained period of time but it was not motivated by financial advantage.

‘She is assessed as a low risk of re-offending, has an elderly father who she cares for and is considering moving to Manchester, where she’s from, to care for him full-time.’

As part of the suspended sentence order, the judge ordered the defendant to attend 20 rehabilitation sessions and to have a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.

She was also ordered her to pay back the full £22,102.92 to Domestic and General as compensation within the next 12 months or risk being sent to prison for up to 18 months.

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