False sick note crime, says Empangeni court

The high court has confirmed a woman’s conviction for fraud for handing her employer a falsified sick note.

High court judges of appeal, Dhaya Pillay and Johan Ploos van Amstel, on Tuesday confirmed the conviction of Lee-Ann Jansen, 33, an administration clerk at the Empangeni Magistrate’s Court, due to a finding that the date on a medical certificate she had handed in to her work was tampered with.

According to court records, the trial magistrate had found that although it was not possible to say who was responsible for altering the date, only Jansen or “someone with knowledge” about her could have altered it.

The evidence revealed that different pens were used to make an alteration to the date.

The original sick note booked Jansen off work from May 21 to 22, 2013. The latter date was changed to reflect she was booked off until May 28, 2013.

The doctor who gave her the medical certificate testified that he had not altered the dates, and if required to change the dates he would have issued a new certificate.

Jansen was sentenced to pay a fine of R5 000 (or six months’ imprisonment), but of this R4 000 (or five months’ imprisonment) was conditionally suspended for five years.

Her effective sentence therefore is a fine of R1 000 (or one month imprisonment).

Source: The Witness, News24