A fake doctor who was only exposed because of a regional daily journalist’s investigation has been jailed for seven years.

Zholia Alemi has been put behind bars after she was revealed to have fraudulently practised as a psychiatrist for more than two decades by Carlisle News & Star chief reporter Phil Coleman.

Now, a crown court judge has demanded an inquiry after noting that Alemi was only stopped due to Phil’s investigation, rather than basic checks that should have been undertaken by the General Medical Council.

It comes after a jury at Manchester Crown Court found Alemi guilty of 13 counts of fraud, three of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, two of forgery and two of using a false instrument.

Phil, pictured, began investigating Alemi, who claimed to have qualified in New Zealand, after she was convicted of fraud in 2018 for attempting to forge the will of a Cumbrian widow.

At the time, it was accepted Alemi was a qualified doctor but Phil researched her disciplinary history, with subsequent calls to the University of Auckland and New Zealand’s GMC revealing she had never completed her medical degree.

Addressing Alemi at her more recent sentencing, Judge Hilary Manley said: “You were caught out and after a trial you were convicted and sentenced to a period of five years’ imprisonment.

“It was only after that trial, and due to the investigations of a local journalist, that the truth was uncovered: that you had never actually qualified as a doctor.”

In the UK, Alemi had treated possibly thousands of vulnerable patients with powers including the ability to prescribe powerful medication and even the opportunity to play a key role in detention for “compulsory treatment”.

Speaking to HTFP, Phil said: “I thought the sentence was very astute and very appropriate. What interested me was [the judge] highlighted the role of regional journalism.

“It was quite a strange feeling really to be sitting in the press gallery listening to a case that we caused.”

During the trial, it was revealed Alemi’s primary medical qualifications – a degree certificate and a university letter of verification – were clearly forged, containing glaring grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Judge Manley told the court there now needed to be a “thorough, and open and transparent” inquiry into the failings which allowed Alemi to submit documents of this nature.

Phil was previously handed a special award at the 2019 Carlisle Living Awards for his work in unearthing Alemi’s fraudulence.

The same year, he was shortlisted for the Private Eye Paul Foot Award for the investigation.

Phil added: “It has been very satisfying to have recognition for the work we do in the regions and by fellow journalists.

“Everyone’s been very generous with their praise.”