A woman from Coventry who posed as a doctor and prescribed dangerous medication to elderly people has been jailed for three years. Kammi Bassi, 58, also pretended to be a nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist and chiropractor.
Warwick Crown Court heard that Bassi had an 'almost insatiable need for attention and love'. She was convicted of fraud and supplying prescription-only medicine. Her victims across the West Midlands were made to pay for massages and home help after she contacted them.
Bassi gave her own prescription drugs, the anti-inflammatory Naproxen 500, to three people. One woman took seven tablets before consulting others who advised against them. The drug can cause gastro-intestinal bleeding.
In court, Bassi feigned blindness, using a wheelchair, hearing aid, dark glasses and a white stick. However, Judge Sarah Buckingham said she had no condition affecting her hearing or sight. Bassi had been seen driving to court.
Sentencing her in her absence, the judge said: 'Your conduct was motivated not so much by money, although you were determined to be paid, but out of a deep-seated desire to be respected for skills you simply didn't have. But you did demonstrate a reckless disregard for their safety.'
Bassi was also given a restraining order banning contact with her victims and a criminal behaviour order.
