Three men have been sentenced to five years and three months in prison for stealing almost £1 million worth of the weight-loss drug Mounjaro from a healthcare distribution centre in St Albans. Mark Harding, 55, Peter Costello, 44, and Robert Townsend, 59, each pleaded guilty to burglary at St Albans Crown Court.
The Burglary
Police reported that 79 boxes of Mounjaro, valued at £944,544.89, were taken during a break-in at the Handley Page Way site on January 24. Harding and Costello forced entry, disabled internal cameras, and removed several boxes from a refrigerated storage unit. Within two hours, they returned with Townsend and stole more than 70 additional boxes.
Investigation and Arrests
Investigators traced the suspects using mobile phone data, CCTV recordings, and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems. Harding was linked to the crime through distinctive clothing spotted on CCTV. Officers conducted raids on February 11, seizing over £60,000 in cash hidden in picnic baskets and extractor fans at Harding and Townsend's properties. Harding and Townsend also received concurrent nine-month sentences for possessing criminal property.
Official 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."
Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Sophia Malik 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."
