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A 47-year-old man has been convicted of stealing prescription drugs from an NHS Treatment Centre in South Gloucestershire.

David Bamford, of Quakers Road, Downend, was found guilty following a trial of the theft of Fentanyl and Diamorphine from Emersons Green NHS Treatment Centre, where he worked as a Lead Operating Department Practitioner – a role which involved assisting the Anaesthetist during operations.

He was also convicted of causing a public nuisance, which relates to the contents of ampoules being tampered with and changed.

He appeared before Bristol Crown Court earlier today (3/5) where he was sentenced to two years in prison.

In June 2015, staff at the centre, which is run by Care UK, discovered that a quantity of ampoules had been tampered with.

The ampoules had been broken off at one end, emptied and then filled back up with other substances, including a less potent painkilling drug and what is believed to have been water.

Further enquiries revealed that in the months leading up to this discovery, there was a spike in instances of these drugs being damaged and consequently destroyed.

DC John Shanahan said: “David Bamford was stealing prescription drugs from his workplace for his own use. Tests showed he had both of these drugs in his system and he admitted in court he was taking small does as a painkiller for a bad back.

“Our investigation discovered he was frequently accessing areas where these controlled drugs were kept outside of normal working hours, he was involved in an unfeasibly large proportion of the breakages which were recorded and he appeared to involve himself unnecessarily in clearing up after operations.

“An audit of controlled drugs held at the centre also found that on 20 May 2015, Bamford ordered 20 ampoules of Diamorphine from the pharmacy at the premises and three days later he collected the order from there. Only 10 of the Diamorphine ampoules were put into the centre’s stock.

 “On one occasion a member of staff asked Bamford for advice after finding broken Diamorphine ampoules among the stock and he advised them not to bother reporting the incident.

“Bamford’s actions had the potential to put the public at risk but thankfully it’s not believed anyone was harmed as a result of medication being tampered with.

“We’ve worked closely with Care UK throughout this lengthy and complex inquiry and I’d like to thank them for all their support and assistance in this matter.”