A fake psychiatrist who worked for the NHS for 22 years despite not having any qualifications gave a patient 'very reasonable' care before he drowned in a bath after an epileptic fit, an inquest heard.

Disgraced Zholia Alemi, 56, treated Darren King, 31, in the lead up to his death in 2017, but did not contribute to it, according to an expert witness.

Mr King, who had a history of autism, epilepsy and learning difficulties, lived alone in a flat in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

His mother Jane King, who became concerned after she was unable to contact him by phone, found him lifeless in his bath.

An inquest heard today that Alemi treated Mr King while she worked as a locum psychiatrist at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust between April 2014 and April 2015 – assessing him for the first time three years before his death.

The inquest at Suffolk Coroner's Court heard Alemi was 'inherently fraudulent' and she did not give evidence.

However, an expert who reviewed her care of Mr King said that she was 'very reasonable' in her treatment of the patient.

Darren King, 31, died in 2017 after having a seizure in a bath at his home in Lowestoft, Suffolk. He was living independently while under the care of Alemi, who was working for the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

Zholia Alemi was jailed for fraud in 2018 after posing as a psychiatrist for more than 22 years

Alemi worked for the NHS for 22 years despite having no qualifications and was jailed in 2018 after she defrauded an elderly patient in a bid to steal her £1.3m estate.

She claimed she had a primary medical qualification when she first registered in the UK in 1995, but, in reality, her degree from the University of Auckland in New Zealand was fraudulent.

She was jailed for five years for fraud after changing a patient's will to make herself a beneficiary.

It was subsequently discovered that she had also lied about her medical qualifications and she was struck off.

Suffolk's senior coroner Nigel Parsley said: 'I can't consider Alemi to be a witness of truth.'

She was not present at the inquest, and the court got a qualified psychiatrist to review her written evidence.

Dr Jonathan Bird, who was asked to be an independent expert witness, was asked for his opinion of the care given by Alemi having read the evidence in the case.

'I felt that Ms Alemi's management and treatment of Mr King was very reasonable,' he said.

'She seemed to be concerned about things which she should have been concerned about - his mental health, epilepsy and capacity.

'She involved others in the team.

In October 2018, Alemi was jailed for five years after forging the will of an 84-year-old dementia sufferer in order to inherit her £1.3million estate. She is pictured here leaving court in 2018

'She wasn't a clinician who just made decisions and told people to get on with it or made decisions without thinking about what others thought.

'It seems to me during what was a relatively short period of time when she was a locum and bussed into a series of cases that were fairly complex, she used her experience in learning difficulties and management of disability in a reasonable way.'

The inquest heard that Mr King had been advised to take showers rather than to bath due to his epilepsy and was assessed as having the capacity to make some decisions.

His mother said he wanted a flat so he could 'be more independent' and he had previously held a job as a school caretaker.

But she said he could not always identify when he had had a seizure.

Senior Coroner Nigel Parsley told the court the groundsman suffered from learning disabilities, epilepsy and autism but lived alone near his parents.

Mr King had been warned from bathing in case he had a fit and died.

Paramedics were called and he was pronounced dead in his home in the early hours of April 9 2017.

His cause of death was given as drowning and an epileptic fit.

The inquest, listed for five days, continues.