Three men have been sentenced to prison after stealing nearly £1 million worth of weight loss medication from a healthcare distribution centre in St Albans. Mark Harding, 55, Peter Costello, 44, and Robert Townsend, 59, each received five years and three months at St Albans Crown Court after pleading guilty to burglary.
The Burglary and Its Scale
A total of 79 boxes of Mounjaro, valued at £944,544.89, were taken after thieves broke into a healthcare distribution facility on Handley Page Way on January 24. Harding and Costello initially forced their way into the building, covered internal cameras, and made off with several boxes from a refrigerated storage unit. Fewer than two hours later, the pair returned with Townsend and stole more than 70 additional boxes of the medication.
Investigation and Arrests
The men were tracked down through phone records, CCTV footage, and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. Harding was further linked to the break-in via distinctive clothing captured on CCTV shortly before the crime and inside the distribution centre during the theft. Officers arrested the men following raids on February 11, seizing more than £60,000 in cash hidden among picnic baskets and extractor fans at the properties of Harding and Townsend. Harding and Townsend also received concurrent nine-month sentences for possession of criminal property.
Impact and Statements
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."
