FORMER health care manager, Charles Ingram, appeared at Bath Magistrates' Court last Thursday charged with false representation.

Mr Ingram, of Leylands Road, Rudloe, admitted altering a job reference by falsely stating that he had been a senior nurse in a nursing home in Dallas, Texas, in order to gain employment in Bath.

He was given an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £32 costs.

"I did something wrong that I should not have done," Mr Ingram said at his home yesterday.

He claimed he was pushed out of his job because of a personal conflict.

"Everyone said I was doing a wonderful job but I had a personality clash with someone who decided they wanted me out," he said.

"They went through all my old references and found something to use against me and they had enough power to push me out."

Mr Ingram said he admitted he made a mistake a long time ago but he had still maintained the correct health qualifications.

"I am a fully trained and I am good at my job," he said.

"This has completely ruined me. My wife has left me and gone back to America and I have lost my job.

"I have been seriously depressed since it all began in February."