A Tube driver who faked his own death so he could could claim a bumper £150,000 payout has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars. Clever Busumani, 53 was working for TfL when he returned to his native Zimbabwe in June 2011. While he was there his wife, Cynthia Chirairo phoned up his employers to tell them he was unwell. She then called them again to say he had died. Chirairo gave a fake death certificate to TfL in order to claim a service payment of around £150,000, yet her claim was unsuccessful. Police received the tip-off from insurance investigators that Busumani was still alive and an arrest warrant was issued. He was finally arrested at Heathrow Airport in 2015.

The couple pleaded guilty to fraud offences on May 27, 2015, yet Busumani fled the country again before the end of his sentencing hearing in July of that year. Busumani, of Tottenham, was sentenced to 16 months in his absence, while his wife Chirairo was given a 12 month sentence. He finally returned to the UK this month and was arrested in SlU ugh yesterday. Defence counsel Michael Conning said: ‘He says he instigated his own arrest by telling his friends of his whereabouts who then informed the police.’