One in 15 English pharmacies hit by serious crime in 2010
As many as one in 15 pharmacies across England may have been the victim of serious crime last year, as more than 700 serious crimes were recorded by police, C+D's Crime Investigation has revealed.
A total of 704 crimes, including sexual assaults, armed robberies with guns and knives, and attacks on pharmacists and staff were recorded as being carried out in England's 10,700 pharmacies between January 1 and October 22 last year.
There were 266 incidents of violent crime – including 10 sexual offences – and 105 people were left injured, according to information obtained by C+D from England's police forces under the Freedom of Information Act.
Together with the crimes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there were a total of 835 serious crimes in the UK during the period.
In England, weapons including guns, knives, crowbars, baseball bats, pickaxes and needles were used in 57 crimes, and in 56 cases pharmacy staff were harassed. At least 300 pharmacies had break-ins or attempted break-ins, while 20 pharmacies were robbed.
However, despite the large number of incidents, only 156 people were charged – less than one prosecution for every four crimes.
Pharmacy leaders condemned the findings, with Rowlands Pharmacy and the Co-operative Pharmacy both warning crime levels were rising.
The "alarming" scale of the crime problems showed pharmacists were vulnerable and needed more support from the DH to protect themselves, said Numark director of professional services Mimi Lau.
Director of the Pharmacists' Defence Association John Murphy said pharmacists were particularly vulnerable to crime due to the products they held and their cash turnover, and he urged contractors to invest in security.
The Department of Health said: "Attacks on all NHS staff, including those working in pharmacies, are unacceptable."
The data collected by C+D included information from 34 of England's 39 police forces, with Hampshire, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Surrey and Sussex not providing information. Minor crimes such as shoplifting were excluded.
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