Three burglars who stole almost £1 million worth of the weight-loss drug Mounjaro from a pharmaceutical distribution site in St Albans have been jailed.

Robert Townsend, 59, Mark Harding, 55, and Peter Costello, 44, stole 79 boxes of the drug, worth £944,554, from Phoenix Healthcare premises on 24 January this year.

Harding and Costello initially forced entry to the building and sprayed black paint on some internal cameras before stealing several boxes of Mounjaro from a refrigerated storage unit. Less than two hours later, they returned and removed more than 70 additional boxes of the weight-loss drug. Townsend accompanied them to the site on this occasion.

Phone location records, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) data and CCTV footage were used to build a case against the three defendants.

A car and a van, the latter fitted with cloned number plates, were found at Townsend’s home after the burglary. ANPR data showed both vehicles travelling towards St Albans on the day the drugs were stolen, with phone location data placing Costello and Townsend in the vehicles and close to the distribution site.

Harding was linked to the burglary through his distinctive clothing, which was seen on CCTV shortly before the offence and again inside the pharmaceutical premises while it was taking place.

Play video: Mounjaro theft sentencing

Lawyer Sophia Malik, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a carefully planned burglary involving high-value pharmaceutical products. The defendants went to significant lengths to avoid being caught, but the evidence gathered through phone location data, automatic number plate recognition records and CCTV clearly linked them with the offences.

“Thanks to the strength of the case built by the prosecution and the police, all three men admitted their involvement and will now serve prison sentences.”

Detective Sergeant Will Daglish, from Hertfordshire Constabulary, said: “I am pleased that Townsend, Costello and Harding pleaded guilty in court and admitted these large-scale offences.

“This was a very serious crime - weight loss drugs must be stored correctly and are dangerous if they are not administered in the right way. By breaking into the fridges storing the Mounjaro drug, their actions posed a serious health risk to the public.

“This was evidently a pre-planned and calculated burglary, and they will now serve several years behind bars.”

All three defendants pleaded guilty to burglary. Harding and Towsend also pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property.

At St Albans Crown Court today (8 July), the judge sentenced all three men to five years and three months in prison for burglary. Harding and Townsend were handed an additional nine-month prison sentence, to be served concurrently, for possessing criminal property.