A doctor struggling to cope with the death of his wife ended up stealing drugs from his hospital to help him sleep through his nightmares.
Richard Evans worked long hours, and was left devastated when his wife died last August.
He returned from a night shift to find she had died suddenly, but went back to work soon afterwards and didn’t seek any counselling.
Suffering from nightmares and unable to mourn his wife properly, he stole the tablets, taking the sleeping pill Zoplicione and painkiller Co-Codamol from Glan Clwyd hospital where he worked.
As a doctor, 42-year-old Evans had access to the computer-operated medicine cabiet. On Christmas Eve last year it was noticed that 7.5mg tablets of the sleeping drug were missig.
He admitted taking some to help him sleep over the Christmas period, and accepted that he’d stolen Co-Codamol tablets before.
At Llandudno magistrates court on Monday, Evans’ solicitor Dafydd Roberts said the case was a “personal tragedy”.
He said: “He believes he will lose his employment as an accident and emergency registrar, where he’s been for the last ten or eleven years and is well respected by his peers.”
There had never been a complaint against him by colleagues or patients, the court heard.
He stole the sleeping pills once and the painkillers on 10 different occasions.
Mr Roberts added that Evans knew the theft would be detected, and it was not a sophisticated crime. He said he should have gone back to his GP to get a prescription for the Co-Codamol, but working long hours he hadn’t been able to get to see his own doctor.
The General Medical Council was involved and he did not expect that he would be allowed to practice any longer. Evans had been referred to a narcotics anonymous organisation and was receiving bereavement counselling.
In 2003 Dr Evans received a conditional discharge for forging drugs prescriptions.
Imposing the sentence of 26-weeks, suspended for a year, court chairwoman Jean Bryson said magistrates had been told about “very unfortunate circumstances”.
She added: “We give you credit for pleading guilty and there is extensive personal mitigation.”
Evans was ordered to pay £200 costs.
