Robert Mugabe henchman worked in British care home

A violent henchman of Robert Mugabe has been working in a British CARE HOME, it has emerged.

Torturer Phillip Machemedze, who ripped out people’s teeth with pliers, was employed as a support worker for a charity which cared for the most vulnerable members of society.

He looked after people suffering from dementia, learning difficulties and mental health needs despite having performed a catalogue of horrifying crimes in his home country.

Machemedze, 46, arrived in the UK on a visitor visa after fleeing his home country in 2000.

Despite committing ”crimes against humanity” and ”savage acts of extreme violence”, he successfully claimed asylum alongside his wife Febbie – with the couple living in an end-of-terrace property in Redfield, Bristol.

The full horrors of his role in Mugabe’s reign of terror emerged at an immigration tribunal last week with court documents exposing his heinous crimes.

As an intelligence officer and bodyguard, HIV positive Machemedze once smashed a victim’s jaw with a pair of pliers before pulling out a tooth.

The vile henchman also beat a white farmer unconscious while performing a series of electric shocks on his terrified victim.

On another occasion a female MDC member was taken to an underground cell where she was stripped and whipped before Machemedze poured salt on her wounds.

He even stripped a man naked and told him he would be forced to have sex with his own daughters if he did not talk.

Machemedze worked for the Milestones Trust in Bristol until earlier this week, despite asylum seekers not generally allowed to work while their claims are being decided.

The Bristol charity which manages nearly 60 nursing and care homes – many of which house just four or five residents.

A spokesperson for the Milestones Trust refused to confirm which of its care homes Machemedze worked at, but admitted their shock at the revelations.

The said: ”We informed the police immediately, and although they were unable to confirm his identity at this time, we took immediate action to prevent his return to work.

”We are concerned that he appeared to have valid documentation from the Home Office allowing him to reside and work in the UK.

”The safety and security of our service users and staff is our primary concern at this time.

”We have taken the necessary steps to reassure and support everyone at the home.

”The nature of the crimes as reported are abhorrent and clearly completely incompatible with working in the social care sector. These reports have come as an enormous shock to everybody at the trust.”

Machemedze is also reported to have worked for the Priory Clinic in Bristol over the last decade.

Home Office officials are now investigating whether or not the henchman was working illegally.

Machemedze told a tribunal this week the he had initially enjoyed his job in Zimbabwe but soon had enough of the torture.

The tribunal ruled his crimes were so horrendous that he was barred from claiming asylum.

But a judge ruled that if he was sent back to Zimbabwe his likely punishment from Mugabe’s brutal regime would be torture or murder – breaching his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Machemedze and his wife were subsequently granted asylum.

But Home Secretary Theresa May has launched a bid to overturn the ruling.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ”The government is disappointed with the judgement and has requested permission to appeal.

”The immigration judge agreed that this individual was not entitled to asylum, but allowed his appeal in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights.

”We consider all asylum applications on their individual merits. However, it is the government’s policy that the UK should not be a refuge for war criminals or those who have committed crimes against humanity or genocide.

”Where someone has been found not to need protection, we expect them to leave voluntarily. For those who choose not to do so, we will seek to enforce their departure.”