Student pharmacist 'wrecked his future' by stealing addictive drugs from Leeds chemists to sell for profit

Student Mohammad Adnan was trusted with ordering medication from suppliers to Manor Park Pharmacy in Bramley, but had been taking orders from friends over a six-month period for the highly-addictive drug, codeine linctus tablets, along with temazepam.

Jailing him for two years at Leeds Crown Court, Judge Tom Bayliss told him: “You were ordering prescription drugs and selling them on. It was a gross breach of trust, using your privileged position which you had in order to obtain drugs for resale.

“You may be naive, but you are certainly not an uneducated man. You have wrecked your future. You would have undoubtedly become a pharmacist.

“Codeine is a highly-addictive drug. It was not impetuous, you were doing it over a period of time. You intended to make a lot of money.

“The gravity of this offending and gross breach of trust leads me to the view that it’s impossible to suspend the sentence. There has to be an element of deterrent because you took advantage of your position and put dangerous drugs on the market.”

The court heard that the 28-year-old had been working towards his final qualifications as a trainee at the pharmacy on Bellmont Close in Bramley in 2021. Suspicions were raised over an excess of drugs being ordered by the defendant, prosecutor Robert Galley said.

CCTV from within the premises later showed Adnan taking boxes of drugs and placing them on shelves at the back of the shop, before placing them in carrier bags and leaving.

Empty packaging was often found but no invoices located. He was involved in the scam between December 2021 and May 2022 and is thought to have stolen 500 bottles of codeine.

Costing the pharmacy around £1.80, it was later found he was charging £20 a bottle. Analysis of his phone found that friends were wanting codeine to make “lean”, mixing the drug with soft drinks.

Text messages also were received about “eggs”, a street name for temazepam, which Adnan said he could get and would sell for £80 a bottle.

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When he was arrested he gave no comment during his interview, but was overheard to say in the police custody suite: “I can’t believe I have done this. They really liked me at the pharmacy.”

Adnan, of Woodsome Estate, Staincliffe, Batley, later admitted being concerned in supply of Class B drugs (codeine), concerned in supply of Class C (temazepam), fraud and theft by employee.

Mitigating, Richard Canning said Adnan’s involvement was “through naivety”. He said: “He is incredibly naive for the position he was in. He wanted to get in with the crowd he was friends with.

“He has stayed offence-free for the last two years, bitterly regrets his involvement in this and has already paid a very significant price.”