Man jailed after using false prescriptions to get £40k of drugs from Luton and Dunstable pharmacies

A man who used 92 false prescriptions to get £40k of drugs from pharmacies has been jailed.

Liam Brickley, 49, used four different aliases to get the drugs from pharmacies in Luton and Dunstable over two years.

He had used the names of doctors from two different GP surgeries – who no longer worked with their practices and had not issued any of the prescriptions.

But he was found out in March 2022 when one of the pharmacists recognised him as someone she had served in a different pharmacy just two days earlier.

Brickley visited yet another pharmacy the following day – and when further checks were made the prescription was also revealed as false, using an old version of the form missing key information.

After being identified via CCTV he was arrested and charged with fraud offences and released on bail.

But it wasn’t long before he was offending again, breaching his bail conditions.

Police searching his home and car found several pieces of paper with practice signatures relating to the two GP surgeries, along with a number of false prescriptions, blank prescriptions, three boxes of diazepam and a pack of oxycodone.

He was arrested again in December 2022 and charged with a number of fraud and drug offences.

Brickley, of Shropshire Close, Mitcham, Greater London, pleaded guilty to several counts of the use of a false prescription for a scheduled drug, possession of an article for use in fraud and possession of Class A and Class C drugs.

He appeared at Luton Crown Court on Friday (July 21) and was sentenced to a total of one year and six months in prison.

Detective Sergeant Emma Huggett from Bedfordshire Police, who investigated the case, said: “I am glad that Brickley has received a custodial sentence for his fraudulent actions, particularly as he had the audacity to continue offending even after he was caught the first time.

“Falsely obtaining such strong medication is a serious crime as you don’t know where these drugs may end up and who could be harmed because of them.

“Brickley showed that he had no remorse as he continued to fraudulently obtain these drugs costing the NHS an estimated £40,000. I’m glad he will now be off the streets for a period of time.”