Van drivers entrusted to deliver crucial medicines to pharmacies across the North West instead stole them and allowed them to be moved into the black market.
Richard Gaskell, Tristan Keddie and David Tilley were all working as van drivers transporting vital pharmaceutical products to pharmacies during the Covid pandemic. All three men were subcontracted to work for Warrington-based AAH Pharmaceuticals, a medicines manufacturing company responsible for supplying pharmacies across the region
Yet Liverpool Crown Court heard today that in late 2020 the men took part in a scheme to steal medicines worth thousands so they could be sold on illegally. Martyn Walsh, prosecuting, said an as yet unidentified individual would make bogus orders on behalf of pharmacies using the phone line, and the men would then steal those products for them to be sold on.
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He said the drugs stolen were “very strong painkillers, controlled class B and C drugs” including codeine, dihydrocodeine and tramadol. Mr Walsh said a range of factors linked to the onset of the Covid pandemic had meant the company was more vulnerable to theft.
He said pharmacies were taking significant orders of medicines and were having to place new orders through a recently opened call centre, meaning they were less likely to notice the bogus orders early on. Mr Walsh said: “The volume of deliveries during the pandemic and the fact it was ordered by a call centre meant it would be possible for them to be billed for the orders without noticing.”
Gaskell, 44, Keddie, 31, and Tilley, 59, were captured on CCTV during December delivering orders to pharmacies across the North West, with the bogus orders then being stolen. The men were later charged with theft by employee and pleaded guilty. None have ever indicated who else was involved in the scheme.
AAH Pharmaceuticals said in a business statement to the court that it had lost around £22,300 due to the scheme, though only some of that sum could be attributed to men in court today, with Gaskell and Keddie linked to losses of just under £7,000 and Tilley linked to a loss of £269.40 Barristers representing all three men said they expressed their remorse for their role in the scheme.
Judge David Swinnerton said the theft of highly addictive and potentially lethal drugs in order to pass them on for sale contributed to the seriousness of the case and said the scheme was an example of criminals taking advantage of the pandemic. He said: “Somebody somewhere realised that there was money to be made by some of those boxes if they disappeared off the back of yo,ur vans and into the black market.”
None of the men have recent criminal convictions and Judge Swinnerton said that, combined with the relatively low amounts stolen and the fact that the offences took place almost 18 months ago, meant the men could be handed community orders or suspended sentences. However, he said conversations captured on CCTV showed Keddie was “one rung higher up” in the plot than Gaskell and Tilley.
Keddie, of Northway, Warrington, was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He must also complete 15 rehabilitation days and 200 hours of unpaid work.
Gaskell, of Shaw Road, Hesketh Bank, was handed a six month jail term, suspended for 12 months. He must complete 25 rehabilitation days.
Tilley, of Scott Road, Southport, was sentenced to a 12 months community order and 20 rehabilitation days. He must also pay £30 a month to the court to pay off his debt.
A fourth man charged as part of the same plot, Daniel Lucock, will be sentenced at a later date.
