Lying to cover up a criminal history

Background Check Porkies – Escapee found working at QLD hospital

Source: ABC, 16 February 2011

A convicted murderer has been recaptured after working as groundskeeper for a QLD hospital for over 13 years! Luke Hunter was serving a life sentence for a murder in 1990 when he allegedly broke out of Borallon prison West of Brisbane in 1996. He will shortly face charges of escaping lawful custody.

The QLD Health Minister stated that Hunter was working under a false name and therefore he did not show up in background checks. This case highlights the limitations of conducting Police Checks in isolation to other background checks. Whilst a Police Check is undertaken on known aliases, if a candidate has assumed a false identity, this can present a challenge in locating their past criminal convictions.

Police Checks are a good starting point; however, other checks such as identity validation, employment validation and a resume assessment to check for unaccounted for gaps and inconsistencies are important to provide an employer with a fuller picture of the background of an applicant.

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