Three men jailed after weight loss drugs worth £1m stolen in St Albans
It happened in January
Three men have been jailed today (Wednesday 8 July), after almost £1million of weight loss drugs were stolen in St Albans.
Shortly before 6.40pm, on Saturday 24 January, a healthcare distribution centre on Handley Page Way was broken into. 79 boxes of Mounjaro, to the value of £944,544.89, were stolen from within.
Mark Harding and Peter Costello first forced entry to the premises and blacked out internal cameras before stealing several boxes of the weight-loss drug from a refrigerated storage unit.
Less than two hours later, they returned and removed more than 70 additional boxes of the weight-loss drug. Robert Townsend accompanied them to the site on this occasion.
They were identified through phone records, CCTV footage and automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR).
Harding was linked to the burglary through his distinctive clothing, which was seen on CCTV shortly before the offence and again inside the pharmaceutical premises while it was taking place.
Townsend, 59, of Lower Pillory Down, Carshalton, pleaded guilty on Thursday 30 April at St Albans Crown Court to burglary and possessing criminal property.
Two weeks prior, Costello, 44, of Sydney Road, Sutton and Harding, 55, of Chertsey Road, Feltham, pleaded guilty to burglary.
Harding also admitted a further charge of possessing criminal property.
They were all arrested after warrants were executed simultaneously on Wednesday 11 February. A combined total of more than £60,000 pounds in cash, hidden amongst picnic baskets and extractor fans, were recovered during the searches of Townsend’s and Harding’s homes.
At St Albans Crown Court, the judge sentenced all three men to five years and three months in prison for burglary. Harding and Townsend were handed an additional nine-month prison sentence, to be served concurrently, for possessing criminal property.
Detective Sergeant Will Daglish said: “I am pleased that Townsend, Costello and Harding pleaded guilty in court and admitted these large-scale offences.
“This was a very serious crime - weight loss drugs must be stored correctly and are dangerous if they are not administered in the right way. By breaking into the fridges storing the Mounjaro drug, their actions posed a serious health risk to the public.
“This was evidently a pre-planned and calculated burglary, and they will now serve several years behind bars.”
Lawyer Sophia Malik, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “This was a carefully planned burglary involving high-value pharmaceutical products. The defendants went to significant lengths to avoid being caught, but the evidence gathered through phone location data, automatic number plate recognition records and CCTV clearly linked them with the offences.
“Thanks to the strength of the case built by the prosecution and the police, all three men admitted their involvement and will now serve prison sentences.”