A pharmacy employee walked out of court with a suspended prison sentence last August after stealing thousands of pounds worth of weight loss drugs from his Harrogate workplace. The case spotlights a troubling trend as high-demand medications like Mounjaro become targets for theft across UK pharmacies.
Kurt Day, 38, from Sheffield, admitted taking 40 boxes of the weight loss injection Mounjaro alongside 60 boxes of the opioid painkiller dihydrocodeine from Well Pharmacy on Cold Bath Road. The theft took place in August 2024, with the stolen medications valued at £4,285.
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The Case Against Kurt Day
Harrogate Magistrates’ Court heard Day’s guilty plea in July 2025. A month later, magistrates handed down a 32-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months. The court ordered Day to repay the full £4,285, complete 25 rehabilitation sessions, and observe a three-month curfew running from 8pm to 7am each night.
Magistrate Philip Morris addressed Day directly during sentencing. “Working in a pharmacy is a position of trust,” Morris said. “What you did was a breach of that trust at the highest level.”
Defense solicitor Sean Wilson argued Day took the medications for personal use rather than profit. Wilson told the court his client had developed an addiction to dihydrocodeine after suffering chronic back and knee pain. Day used the stolen Mounjaro to lose weight.
The bench suspended the prison term after concluding Day showed realistic prospects for rehabilitation.
Why Weight Loss Drugs Are Theft Targets
Mounjaro entered the UK market in 2024 as a weekly injection containing tirzepatide. The drug suppresses appetite by making users feel full, leading to reduced food intake. Clinical trials showed significant weight loss results, creating massive demand almost immediately.
By September 2025, manufacturer Eli Lilly raised private prescription prices by up to 170 percent. Monthly costs for the highest dose jumped from £122 to £330. The price surge came as supplies struggled to meet demand, with shortages affecting higher-dose pens throughout 2024 and into 2025.
This combination created perfect conditions for theft. Pharmacy workers with access to stock faced temptation as the medication’s street value climbed alongside legitimate prices.
Pharmacy Theft Becomes Industry Crisis
The General Pharmaceutical Council issued warnings to pharmacy professionals in August 2025 about staff stealing medications. Chief Pharmacy Officer Roz Gittins wrote that the regulator had investigated multiple concerns about medicines being ordered and stolen by employees, specifically naming weight management medications.
The GPhC recommended pharmacies cap quantities for high-risk medications, alert superintendent pharmacists when staff place unusual orders, and restrict wholesale account access. Employees leaving or changing roles should immediately lose system access.
The Harrogate case wasn’t isolated. In October 2025, thieves broke into East Craigs Pharmacy in Edinburgh and made off with large quantities of Mounjaro. Police Scotland responded after staff discovered the theft on October 5.
A separate Well Pharmacy location in Runcorn also suffered losses when an employee stole roughly £7,000 worth of medications to supply an online drug business.
Black Market Risks for Patients
Stolen prescription medications don’t just represent financial losses for pharmacies. When controlled substances reach unregulated channels, patient safety becomes compromised.
Counterfeit Mounjaro injections have appeared on UK black markets, sold through social media, beauty salons, and unlicensed websites. Some fake versions contained different chemicals entirely, leading to hospitalizations. The World Health Organization issued specific warnings in June 2024 about fake semaglutide products in the UK supply chain.
Patients desperate to afford treatment after price increases may turn to these dangerous alternatives. Legitimate medication requires refrigeration and proper handling. Black market products offer no such guarantees.
What Pharmacies Are Doing Now
Industry groups recommend pharmacy owners conduct security assessments with local police before incidents occur. Some locations have installed additional surveillance cameras covering dispensing areas and storage rooms. Others implemented two-person verification systems for ordering controlled substances and high-value medications.
The National Pharmacy Association urged members to watch for bulk buying patterns that might indicate stockpiling for resale. Proper medical supervision disappears when medications enter grey markets, leaving patients without support if complications arise.
Prescription medication theft in Harrogate and beyond signals how market pressures create security vulnerabilities. As weight loss drugs maintain high demand and elevated prices, pharmacies face mounting pressure to protect inventory while legitimate patients navigate affordability and access challenges.
The suspended sentence in Day’s case reflects courts balancing punishment with rehabilitation prospects. But for an industry grappling with organized theft and counterfeit products, individual prosecutions represent just one piece of a larger security puzzle.
