Three men jailed for £944k Mounjaro heist at St Albans warehouse

Three burglars have been sentenced to five years and three months each for stealing nearly £1m of weight-loss drug Mounjaro from a St Albans distribution site.

Three men jailed over £944k Mounjaro theft from St Albans pharmaceutical site

Three men have each been sentenced to five years and three months in prison after stealing nearly £1 million worth of weight-loss drug Mounjaro from a pharmaceutical distribution site in St Albans, The Independent reports.

Mark Harding, 55, of Chertsey Road, Feltham; Robert Townsend, 59, of Lower Pillory Down, Sutton; and Peter Costello, 44, of Sydney Road, Sutton, carried out what the court described as a "highly organised" and "sophisticated" burglary at Handley Page Way on 24 January.

Costello and Harding gained access to the site by cutting through an air conditioning unit and climbing in via a duct at the rear of the building. Once inside, they forced open a large refrigerated area and began removing boxes of the drug. CCTV footage shown at St Albans Crown Court captured both men dressed in black, wearing gloves and carrying torches as they moved through the site. They departed with an initial load of stock, then returned for a second haul less than two hours later.

Townsend remained outside throughout, acting as a lookout. The prosecution told the court he had also visited the site a week before the burglary to scout the location.

Sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Jonathan Mann KC said the use of tools to cut through the air conditioning unit, combined with the pair's knowledge of how to avoid triggering the alarms, demonstrated clear advance planning. "Doing that must mean that you knew to do that, which means that this was thought about in advance," he said. The three defendants had also sprayed black paint over some of the CCTV cameras.

Prosecuting counsel Harrie Austin-Jones told the court there had been "advanced targeting and scoping of the building," which enabled the group to circumvent security measures.

On behalf of Harding, defence barrister Graham Logan argued his client "didn't know the full extent of what was involved" and sought to downplay the level of organisation. Judge Mann rejected that argument, saying it "belies common sense" that any of the three had been unaware of what they were undertaking.

All three were arrested on 11 February. Harding and Townsend additionally pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property after cash was recovered from their homes. Officers found £35,000 concealed in a picnic basket inside Harding's wardrobe and £19,900 hidden behind an extractor fan at Townsend's address. Both sums were considered by the court to relate to the offence.

The £944,544.89 worth of Mounjaro taken in the raid has not been recovered. Judge Mann said he had "no doubt" that "a great deal of money was made as an effect of the distribution of the Mounjaro."

All three defendants had previous convictions. Costello and Harding had both faced prosecution for separate burglaries within the past decade. Townsend and Harding each received an additional nine-month concurrent sentence for the criminal property charge.

The sentencing was observed from a packed public gallery by the defendants' family members and friends. Proceeds of crime proceedings are now expected in relation to the cash found at the homes of Townsend and Harding.

Source: The Independent