A senior pharmacist stole highly addictive drugs from his employer to feed a hidden dependence, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutors told a sentencing hearing that 61-year-old Craig Colwell used a wide variety of strategies to steal painkillers from Woodbourne Chemist and cover his tracks.

However, Jerome Lynch, KC, for Colwell, said the defendant has attempted to self-medicate to treat chronic pain issues and slid rapidly into opiate dependence.

He said: “These offences are not motivated by personal gain, but desperation for a drug he became addicted to.”

Colwell, a Canadian national, admitted eight offences this year including three counts of theft, four counts of false accounting and the possession of three drugs — OxyNorm, oxycodone and amphetamine salt — while “acting otherwise than [in his] capacity as a pharmacist”.

The notorious opioid drugs have been implicated in the addiction crisis that has ravaged communities across North America.

All the offences were said to have taken place between January 2021 and May 2025 while he worked as assistant chief pharmacist and pharmacy manager at Woodbourne Chemist in Pembroke.

Paula Tyndale, for the Crown, said that the crimes were discovered on May 31, 2025, during a routine inspection of the pharmacy’s narcotics register while Colwell was off duty.

The on-duty pharmacist noticed the “regularity” of the dispensing of oxycodone, an opiate used as a painkiller, and that a prescription under the defendant’s name had been dispensed to him while he was the only pharmacist on duty.

Further checks found that there was no patient profile for the defendant that aligned with the prescription. There was a profile under the name of “Craig Olwell”, which was taken to be a deliberate misspelling of the defendant’s name.

A full investigation into pharmacy records revealed more than 400 suspicious transactions attributed to the defendant involving OxyNorm, oxycodone and amphetamine salt.

Colwell was arrested and, during a search of his home, officers recovered several used blister packs that had contained OxyNorm and oxycodone.

Ms Tyndale said that Colwell had resorted to more than a dozen methods to obtain the controlled drugs since 2021, including falsifying prescriptions, modifying prescriptions and repeating single-use prescriptions.

A total of 148 patient records were identified as being subjected to manipulation.

Records also suggested that drugs had been transferred to another pharmacy without the business having any record of receiving them.

Ms Tyndale claimed that Colwell had used his position as pharmacy manager to schedule himself to conduct the narcotics inspections, allowing him to further cover his tracks.

She said: “It took a high degree of sophistication and manipulation to make sure it was not caught.”

While Colwell was initially charged with possessing the drugs with intent to supply, Ms Tyndale said the Crown accepted the plea to the lesser charge of simple possession.

She added that while the value of the drugs stolen over the four-year period was fairly low compared with other Supreme Court theft cases — about $12,500 — the nature of the offence threatened the reputations of doctors and the safety of patients.

She noted Colwell’s early guilty plea and lack of previous conviction, stating that a sentence between 15 and 18 months behind bars would be appropriate.

Mr Lynch argued that while the Crown’s suggested sentence was in a reasonable range, the unusual circumstances of the case warranted a suspended sentence.

He told the court that there was no evidence whatsoever to support claims that Colwell had scheduled himself to conduct narcotics reviews, or that any patients were put at risk — stating that, in the event of a medical emergency, their doctors would be called, not the pharmacy.

Mr Lynch noted character witnesses who called Colwell a “mentor” or “big brother” figure loved by his patients, with a record of exemplary work at the pharmacy for more than 20 years.

However, witness statements told how he appeared to rapidly deteriorate after the death of his father in 2019, shaving his hair, losing weight and showing a “sustained decline in his mental wellbeing”.

Mr Lynch said medical records showed Colwell had suffered from chronic pain since 2016. While he was prescribed a number of painkillers, none resolved the issue.

He said Colwell had made the foolish decision to “self-prescribe” himself oxycodone, a powerful and notoriously addictive opiate, and quickly found himself hooked.

Mr Lynch said: “As time went by, he became more and more addicted and would take whatever steps he could to secure the drugs for himself.”

He said that evidence suggested Colwell’s physical pain was exacerbated by undiagnosed mental health issues, which also left him more susceptible to addiction.

Mr Lynch added that since his arrest, Colwell had made a committed effort to treat his mental health issues and addiction, arguing that a term of imprisonment would set those efforts back.

He told the court Colwell was willing to pay full restitution for the thefts.

Colwell apologised to his former employer, the court and his customers for his actions, stating that he had come to a dark place in his life.

He said: “It’s quite alarming how it grabs a hold of you and it’s all you think about.”

Colwell added that he did not believe addiction and mental health were discussed enough.

He said: “It’s an illness, but we still want to cover it up.”

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe said he would deliver his sentence next month.

He released Colwell on bail, but warned the defendant not to take the move as indicative of his final decision.

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