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Pharmacy worker ordered to pay back £60,000 after stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of makeup and drugs

Ellen Manning
·2-min read
Andrew Simpson. A trusted pharmacy technician plundered the stock room of the chemists where he worked to help feed a gambling addiction which was costing him up to a staggering £44,000 a day. See SWNS story SWMDchemist. For ten months Andrew Simpson over-ordered stock for the Well Pharmacy in Bedworth, Warwickshire, and stole the surplus, a judge at Warwick Crown Court has heard. Simpson (36) of Westbury Road, Nuneaton, was jailed for 22 months after pleading guilty to stealing more than a quarter of a million pounds worth of cosmetic and other items. Prosecutor Ravi Sidhu said the theft took place over a ten-month period from the beginning of December 2018 until late September last year while Simpson worked as a pharmacy technician. He had worked at Well Pharmacy in High Street, Bedworth, for seven years, and was a keyholder, with unlimited access to the stock, drugs and cash. In June last year financial checks revealed a significant discrepancy, so a CCTV camera was installed in the stock room. The subsequent recordings showed Simpson on several occasions helping himself to a wide variety of stock, ranging from cosmetics to diabetic testing strips, and placing it in a box which he later took.
Andrew Simpson, 37, stole makeup and other goods from the pharmacy that he worked at so he could sell them to fund his gambling addiction. (SWNS)

A pharmacy worker who was jailed after stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of makeup and medicines from his employer has been ordered to pay back nearly £60,000.

Andrew Simpson, 37, deliberately over-ordered stock that he could take home and sell on eBay to fund his gambling addiction, which was costing him £44,000 a day.

Simpson was jailed for 22 months in October after admitted theft at Warwick Crown Court.

He and has now been ordered to pay back some of the £276,549 that he stole in the form of make-up, drugs and diabetic testing strips between December 2018 and September 2019.

Well Pharmacy in Bedworth where Simpson worked. (SWNS)
Well Pharmacy in Bedworth where Simpson worked. (SWNS)

The court heard that the 37-year-old was a trusted keyholder of the stock room at the pharmacy in Bedworth, Warwickshire, where he had worked for seven years, allowing him unlimited access to the stock which he stole to order and posted to people around the UK for inflated prices.

He was caught when bosses became suspicious and installed a secret camera in the storeroom at the pharmacy.

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Footage caught Simpson taking items from the stock room and police found 726 stolen goods worth £8,000 when they raided his home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

A confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act was told that he made a total of £278,951 from his crimes.

Recorder Balraj Bhatia QC ordered that Simpson's assets - worth £58,530 - should be paid in compensation to his former employer and he will face a further 15 months in jail if the money is not paid within three months.

Michael Haggar, defending, asked the judge whether Simpson could have more time to gather the funds because he will have to sell his home to raise the money.

The judge pointed out that three months is the maximum time allowed but an application may be made later to extend the period.

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