Man jailed for two years for Croydon pharmacy robberies
James Good stole stock worth between £2,500 and £3,500 from GreenChem pharmacy but was caught after leaving his haul in plain sight in a car outside the pharmacy
A man has been jailed for stealing thousands of pounds worth of medicines from pharmacies in Croydon after a customer followed a trail of stolen bath lotions to his car.
James Good, of Bywood Avenue, Croydon, parked his car full of stolen goods on the same road as GreenChem pharmacy after breaking in overnight in February, according to the Metropolitan Police.
A vigilant customer discovered bottles of bath lotion from the pharmacy in the street and pointed police in the direction of Mr Good's vehicle nearby, where he had stashed medicines, toiletries and bolt-cutters. Mr Good, who lives on the same street as the pharmacy, was arrested.
He pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court on Friday (April 11) to breaking into two pharmacies in the area and was jailed for two years. The judge took a further 17 burglaries into consideration when sentencing, the police said.
James Good stole thousands of pounds worth of medicines and caused damage to pharmacies in Croydon |
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Mayur Patel, superintendent pharmacist at GreenChem, said Mr Good stole between £2,500 and £3,500 worth of stock, including drugs such as diazepam, zopiclone and OxyContin. Although many of the stolen goods were recovered, the pharmacy had to destroy between £500 and £600 worth of medicines, Mr Patel said. |
"When we came in in the morning, the place was ransacked. While the police were there, a customer found two bottles of bath lotion outside in the road. Then she found another item and said there was a car with a lot of medicine in," Mr Patel told C+D.
The alarm had been tampered with the day before Mr Good broke in, but the pharmacy's monitoring company thought it was a false alarm, Mr Patel said.
Detective constable Gabriel Desouza of Croydon Criminal Investigation Department said Mr Good had caused "a terrible amount of damage and disruption to various shops and pharmacies he targeted".
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