A chemist manager who stole medication and then sold it on to make a profit has been jailed for more than three years.

Tim Richards was a senior manager working for Lloyds Pharmacy when he stole drugs worth £267,845 between March 2011 and January this year.

Richards, 42, of Whitby Avenue, Eye, pocketed a further £139,723 after secretly selling drugs from the pharmacy he worked at in Eaton Socon to doctors surgeries and health centres between April 2009 and January this year.

He also helped himself to £15,000 of medical equipment which he then sold on eBay between April 2007 and March 2011.

Richards was charged with three counts of theft by employee and one count of intent to prejudice/defraud HM Revenue and Customs as he failed to tell them about payments totalling £37,555,20 between March 2010 and March 2013.

He was jailed for 40 months at Peterborough Crown Court on Monday (December 2) after pleading guilty. He was jailed for three years for the thefts to run concurrent and a further four months for failing to declare his income to run consecutively.

Detective Constable Lucy Bright said: “This was a complicated case and took great bravery for the staff members to report the suspicious activities by Richards in the pharmacy.

“Richards abused his position for his own gain using the money for holidays, cars and houses. He offended over a long period of time and thought he had got away with it. I’m glad justice has been done.”