Thieves cut through security shutters to “ransack” an Oldham medical practice's pharmacy for Lyrica, C+D has learned.

Two men used a hammer to “smash” the external CCTV camera at Hopwood House Medical Practice on Lees Road between 11.15pm on June 12 and 2.30am the following day, Greater Manchester Police said on Sunday (June 14).

The thieves then used a plank of wood to gain entry through the practice's exterior door, before stealing thousands of pounds worth of drugs from its pharmacy, police said.

Superintendent pharmacist Mohammed Waseem said the thieves had placed stickers over the practice's CCTV cameras after failing to break them. They also cut through the practice's security shutter and cut a hole in its door, leaving the locks intact, he said.

Once inside the pharmacy, the burglars “went straight for the Lyrica shelf” and “swiped” between 65 and 70 boxes of the epilepsy treatment, he told C+D. “It’s as though they knew exactly where to go,” he said.

The thieves also stole morphine sulphate, diazepam, nitrazepam and emptied the till of around £40, he said. Mr Waseem estimated that the combined cost of the damage and stolen drugs was up to £9,000.

“Absolute shock”

The burglary was an “absolute shock” because staff had considered the pharmacy’s existing security to be “tight”, Mr Waseem said. They were now planning to install infrared CCTV cameras outside the building and were also considering adding an anti-burglary device that could fill the premises with smoke if triggered, he said.

The pharmacy had been able to open as normal on the next working day, but Mr Waseem said his “biggest worry” was the public health risk posed by “the quantity of medicines stolen”. “It’s in the wrong hands and it’s very dangerous,” he added.

Constable Kristian Kurmul of Greater Manchester Police said Lyrica was “considered fatal when taken in large doses, or when taken by someone who has never taken it before”.

“It is vitally important that anyone who comes into contact with these stolen drugs does not ingest them or give them to others,” he added.

Police urged anyone with information about the incident to call them on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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