A PHARMACIST who stole “highly addictive” prescription drugs to sell on the street has been jailed.

Niren Patel, of Ilford, was charged on March 27 after a number of thefts were reported at the pharmacy he worked at in Hornchurch.

After the Met Police’s controlled drug liaison team investigated further, they found the 38-year-old had created fake orders for almost £5,000’s worth of prescription medicine.

Patel worked at Day Lewis Pharmacy in Hornchurch and Hedgemans Pharmacy in Dagenham and admitted he sold the drugs he stole during his police interview.

He confessed to dealing Class B weight loss drug Dexamfetamine, Class C drugs Xanax, Zolpidem, and Diazepam, and bodybuilding growth hormone Genotropin.

At Snaresbrook Crown Court on May 10 he admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position of trust, possession with intent to supply a Class B drug, and five counts of the same charge for Class C drugs.

He was handed a year jail sentence by a judge on Friday (June 16).

After the hearing, the Met’s organised crime command’s DC Beverley McInerney said: “Patel abused his position as a pharmacist by creating fraudulent orders for prescription drugs and then sold them on the street.

“The drugs he sold are highly addictive and dangerous when given to someone without a prescription.”