Dressed Up As A Nurse To Sell Drugs During The COVID Pandemic

A Polish crook who pretended to be a nurse to deal drugs during the Covid pandemic has avoided deportation after a judge ruled her offences were not serious enough.

Urszula Kareme impersonated an NHS ‘key worker’ to evade detection in her role with an organised crime group that traded large quantities of cocaine, heroin and cannabis in lockdown.

When police ransacked the crook’s home, drug-dealing paraphernalia and £50,000 in cash were discovered – most of which was stashed in her washing machine.

She was jailed for nine years, and after her conviction, the Home Office ordered her to be deported.

But despite finding her dressing up as a nurse to commit crimes ‘a cynical and totally unacceptable exploitation of the public’s goodwill’, Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Miranda Butler ruled her offences were not serious enough for her to be removed.

‘During the pandemic, there was a sense of national pride and support for key workers at the time and the particular status accorded to nurses, for whom the public clapped nightly, and many of whom tragically died in seeking to fight the pandemic,’ she said.

‘Furthermore, the pandemic involved widespread loss of life, and we accept the submission that [Kareme] may have been yet more likely to avoid scrutiny, as anyone minded to question her as to her whereabouts may have been prevented from doing so by fear of transmission of the virus.

‘We accept that this was a cynical and wholly unacceptable exploitation of the public’s goodwill at a time when the overriding national interest was in a community-minded effort to protect the vulnerable and save lives.

‘This case does not involve violence of any kind. It does not involve sexual offending. It does not involve children. It does not involve exploitation. It does not involve abuse. It does not involve terrorism. These offences will generally be of the type which cause such widespread, serious, and lasting harm that they attract the heaviest criminal sanctions.

‘We acknowledge that her offending arose in the almost unprecedented context of an international pandemic and the wholly unprecedented context of a national lockdown.

‘This feature and the fact of her impersonation of a key worker at such a time are highly unusual (and seriously aggravating) features. It is important, however, not to conflate exceptionality of occurrence with exceptionality of gravity.’

The Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber heard Kareme was convicted at Manchester Minshull Street Court for engaging in conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs, namely heroin, cocaine and cannabis.

She has lived in the UK for almost 20 years and had ‘forged integrative links’ in the UK.

Throughout 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kareme, alongside four others, used encryption devices to communicate and organise the extensive movement of drugs.

They supplied drugs on a weekly basis across Manchester, bringing in £35,000-£40,000 per kilogram.

Kareme was said to have impersonated a nurse to avoid scrutiny while working during lockdown, as nurses were given more freedom to travel and meet others.

The drugs were sourced from across northwest England, the Midlands and the south. Police confirmed the group handled at least 20kg of cocaine.

She was paid a wage by two of the group’s leaders to distribute considerable amounts of cash and drugs from her car.

During a police search of her home, seen as a safe house, in June 2020, £50,000 cash, counting machines, scales and packaging were discovered.

In December 2023, the 47-year-old was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment alongside four other men.

Asad Zulfiqar, Riasat Ali, Jake Burke, and Patrick Barry were the other members of her criminal organisation who were imprisoned.

They received a total of 60 years and six months, with individual sentences ranging from eight to 16 years.

In May 2024, the Home Office issued a deportation order against Kareme, which she successfully contested.

This led to the latest hearing after the Home Office appealed that ruling.

This is just butter justice, so soft!