The United Kingdom authorities have jailed a woman who specialise in writing UK citizenship tests as a mercenary.
Josephine Maurice, 61 who travelled around the country to complete false UK citizenship tests has been jailed for four years and six months. Josephine was a former bus driver who live in Enfield, north London.
A series of wigs and false documents were the tools used by Josephine as she pretended to be 13 different people in order to take the Life in the UK Test between June 1 2022 and August 14 2023, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Before sentencing, Josephine had pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud, a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts of possession of another person’s identity documents.
The case was heard at Snaresbrook Crown Court, east London. District Judge Anthony Callaway, sentencing on Tuesday, described Maurice’s actions as “wholesale assault” on the immigration system and there was a “clear advantage” to people who wanted to progress towards citizenship without following all the procedures.
The Life in the UK Test is a requirement for anyone seeking to obtain indefinite leave to remain or naturalisation as a British citizen.
According to the Home Office, it consists of 24 questions aimed at “proving the applicant has sufficient knowledge of British values, history and society”.
Her defence lawyer Stephen Akinsanya told the court that Maurice was not the mastermind of the scam but the offences could potentially rise to “affecting national security if people are passing tests when they have no right to be here”.
She was “gainfully employed” as a bus driver but got sucked into “something far more serious than she envisioned”.
The judge told Maurice who appeared via videolink: “You attended test centres fraudulently undertaking Life in the UK Tests on behalf of other persons who, naturally, were supposed to and were intended to be there. “It is clear that the fraud was deliberate and sophisticated and involved the alteration of identity documents, travel documents, false wigs and other matters.
“The geography was varied. You attended in person a variety of centres in London and elsewhere including Stratford, Luton, Hounslow, Reading, Oxford, Nottingham and Milton Keynes.”
Josephine was arrested earlier in 2025 and provisional driving licences were found at her home during arrest.
Maurice has a previous fraud conviction dating back to August 2015 and “there are similarities” to the current case as it involved her “impersonating” someone in order to take a driving theory test, the judge said.
UK Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra said: “Today’s sentence serves as strong evidence that this Government will use every tool at its disposal to root out abhorrent immigration offenders and ensure they face the full force of the law for undermining our laws and putting the UK’s border security at risk.
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