A Hampshire pharmacist who illegally imported
steroids and who stole from his employers is to have his name removed from the
register by order of the Statutory Committee. At its meeting on July 13, the
committee inquired into the case of Mr Naeem Abdul, of 280 London Road, Waterlooville,
Hampshire. Information had been received that on March 22, 1999, at Portsmouth
crown court Mr Abdul had been convicted of conspiracy to contravene Section
170(2)b of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 in relation to the importation
of a Controlled Drug, of conspiracy to supply a Class C Controlled Drug, and
of seven charges of theft. For those offences, Mr Abdul had been sentenced to
a total of four years imprisonment. He had appealled, unsuccessfully, against
that sentence. Mr G. R. F. Hudson, of Penningtons (solicitors), appeared in
order to place the facts of the case before the committee. Mr Abdul was present
at the inquiry, and represented himself.
Trial
The committee heard that the charges on which Mr Abdul had been found guilty,
after a trial lasting from January 8 to March 22, 1999, related to conspiracy
to import and sell steroids, thefts of cash from his employers and theft of
prescription-only medicines. The steroid involved was the testosterone preparation
Sustanon. Three consignments were involved, of 15,000, 10,000 and 10,000 250mg
ampoules. At his trial, it had been said that Mr Abdul had conspired with others
to import the Sustanon; his defence had been that it would subsequently have
been exported to Africa, which would have rendered the transaction legal. However,
when the Sustanon arrived in Britain by air, it was frequently collected by
an individual who gave evidence that he took the consignments to two gymnasiums
in the Midlands.
Impounded
There was also evidence of frequent telephone contact between Mr Abdul and the
gymnasiums. The third consignment had been impounded by Customs and Excise after
inconsistencies in the accompanying documentation were spotted. The thefts of
cash occurred when Mr Abdul had been working as a locum at a pharmacy in Bognor
that he had previously owned, but which had been sold following Mr Abdul's bankruptcy.
The court had heard evidence that he had taken money from the till and intercepted
money that should have gone into it. A total of £6,198.51 was involved. Mr Abdul's
explanation that the money was for petty cash and locum fees had not been accepted.
Denial
The theft of POM medicines concerned 17 packs of Orimeten and 10 packs of Nubain,
which Mr Abdul had ordered while working as a locum in Southampton. At his trial,
Mr Abdul had denied both ordering and stealing those POMs, but that denial had
not been accepted. Giving the committee's decision, the chairman (Lord Fraser
of Carmyllie, QC) said that the appeal court had pointed out that "the appellant
[Mr Abdul] was engaged in bringing into this country very substantial quantities
of steroids. He was a professional man and as such was entrusted to act responsibly".
The committee had little difficulty in coming to the conclusion that Mr Abdul
should be removed from the register, and made that direction. He had three months
in which to appeal.