Tinahshe Mudzinganyama: Covid lie shut down Blacktown Police station

A man constructed a web of lies which ended up with him being arrested and a police station locked down during the height of the pandemic.

A Glenwood man has been caught in a web of lies which all stemmed from a failure to appear in court and ended in a fabricated positive Covid test.

Tinahshe Mudzinganyama, 31, pleaded guilty to giving false information to person/property in danger as well as charges of possess prohibited drug (cannabis) and possess prohibited drug (methylamphetamine) in Blacktown Court on Thursday.

Tinahshe Mudzinganyama leaving Blacktown Court on Thursday after being sentenced over faking Covid.

It all started on August 12, 2021 when Mudzinganyama turned up to Blacktown Police station under the assumption there was a warrant out for his arrest after failing to appear at court.

Blacktown Court heard this week he spoke to the station commander and presented him a medical certificate, indicating he was unfit for work.

He then told officers he was Covid positive.

This was during the height of the Delta Covid lockdown in Sydney and so he was asked to immediately leave and return home.

Blacktown Police Station reception went into lockdown and a deep clean was initiated.

As police made inquiries with the Department of Health over his positive test it was revealed there was no record of the accused ever being tested for Covid, let alone testing positive.

The following day, police attended his home in Glenwood and asked Mudzinganyama for assistance in obtaining information about the positive result.

About 10 minutes later he returned with his mobile phone and presented two text messages, one from August 9, 2021 indicating a positive result and one from August 12 showing a negative result.

He stated that these were his results and the results were sent to his girlfriend’s phone.

Police then attempted to verify the accuracy of his statement, attending his partner’s house in Woodcroft.

At the time she was a registered nurse working at a vaccination clinic and was required to get a Covid test every day.

When questioned about her partner’s results, she stated that she had been contacted by him that morning and he asked her to send her test results to him.

She then forwarded him two messages of the tests dated August 9 and August 12, altering the August 9 test to read positive.

Mudzinganyama was subsequently charged with giving false information to person/property in danger, before a month later getting in trouble with the law once again.

On September 30, 2021, Mudzinganyama was travelling in a Toyota Corolla with other men before exiting the car, entering a known drug house and a short time later leaving.

When police pulled the vehicle over, Mudzinganyama was searched and police discovered 1.44 grams of meth on him.

The reception area was closed down for deep cleaning following Mudzinganyama claim of being Covid positive (AAP Image/David Swift)

He was taken to the station where he declined to participate in any interview.

He was then strip searched with police finding 11.74 grams of cannabis between his buttocks.

In Blacktown Court on Thursday, Mudzinganyama’s solicitor Najee Makhoul labelled his actions as “inexcusable and deplorable” but said his client has shown remorse and that the crimes while “terrible” did not deserve jail time.

“His actions were inexcusable and deplorable, I concede,” said Najee Makhoul

“The context is that he attended the police station with a medical certificate as he believed that missing his court date could land him in custody and he panicked.

“In my submission, the lack of premeditation moderates the objective seriousness and he has accepted his guilt and has shown remorse.

“It was a terrible decision and he accepts that.

“As for the drugs, it is his first drug related offence and it was a bad lapse in judgment as he was spiralling out of control,” he said.

Magistrate Vivien Swain said “I accept in his submission, the lie was not planned, it was at the time he was being questioned and he panicked.

“He said that he thought he was going to be arrested for not turning up to court. It is the continuation of the lie is of serious concern.

“It is worth noting at the time of offending he was on a Community Corrections Order for driving related matters.

“I am satisfied that he has demonstrated remorse but he needs to be personally deterred from ever resorting to this course of action again.

“It is clear Covid will be with us for some time and when this occurred it was at the peak of when the Delta strain was sweeping our state.

“For the drug matters, they are his first drug charges and I will take that into consideration.”

Mudzinganyama was sentenced to a two year community corrections order, fined $4,850 and ordered to do 200 hours of community service work.