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Harold Roque, 51, was charged with the theft of clonazepam, diazepam, clobazam and temazepam from the Waikato Hospital supply.
A nurse at Waikato Hospital who was working night shifts helped himself to drugs from the hospital’s supply in a bid to get some sleep.
Harold Roque, 51, appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Thursday for sentencing on a single charge of theft of Class C controlled drugs – namely clonazepam, diazepam, clobazam and temazepam.
Roque had access to the medicines room at the hospital and, between December 31, 2016, and January 4, 2017, stole the tablets from the room.
His thievery was discovered through an internal audit. Covert surveillance cameras were set up and Roque was caught red-handed.
He was interviewed and dismissed from his job soon after. Eventually he was charged under the auspices of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.
Through his counsel Gerard Walsh, Roque applied for a discharge without conviction, but he first had to convince Judge Simon Menzies that the consequences of such a black mark against his name would outweigh the gravity of the offence.
Walsh pointed to Roque’s previous good character and work history, the fact the incident was an isolated one, his early guilty plea and his deep and genuine remorse.
Roque had been rostered on night shifts for a lengthy time and had experienced difficulty sleeping, he said.
“For the lion’s share of his time at the hospital, he was working admirably.”
Roque had found new employment selling cars and had started his life afresh, Walsh said.
Although the police summary of facts does not record the precise amount or the value of the drugs that were taken, they were valued at under $500.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Cummings said Roque’s misdeeds “were not minor offending”.
The Waikato District Health Board had placed a great deal of trust in staff like Roque not to abuse their ability to access drugs, and such crimes tended to lower the estimation of health officials in the eyes of the public.
“He is 51 years old and an educated man. He would have been fully aware of the consequences of his conduct.”
Roque had also been brought before the Nursing Council and a series of sanctions and rehabilitating measures were imposed – which could potentially allow for future work in the health sector.
A copy of the council’s decision had been provided to the judge by the defence, as well as a report from a psychiatrist. However Roque had not provided an affidavit on his own behalf, setting out how a conviction would affect him or his prospects.
Without any firm detail or evidence of the specific consequences of a conviction, Judge Menzies said he was unable to be persuaded that the conviction would outweigh the offence.
He convicted Roque and fined him $250.
Roque’s case is not the only one in recent times of a Waikato Hospital nurse dipping into the available drug supply.
In October 2015, Peta Lee Millar, 53, was sentenced to 220 hours of community work, 12 months’ supervision, and ordered to pay the health board $5000 in reparation for stealing 5000 vials of Propofol Provive – the same anaesthetic that killed pop star Michael Jackson.