Pulse.Assent

A Llanelli man has been sentenced today for illegally supplying prescription drugs. Lee Daniels received a 40-month sentence for selling unauthorised versions of anti-cancer drugs such as Tamoxifen and Letrozole as well as steroids and pain killers across the EU.

More than 25,000 doses of unlicensed, prescription-only medicines and class C drugs were seized by Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency investigators including addictive benzodiazepines. Daniels conducted his illegal trade in medicines whilst also running a business selling vinyl records.

Investigators believe that Daniels made more than £270K from his illegal medicines business between 2013 and 2016. The profits were deposited into accounts held under variations of his own name and in to accounts in the name of his wife and a friend who it is believed were completely unaware of his illegal business.

Daniels worked full-time as a welder before branching out in to selling discs and diazepam. He was eventually uncovered when a raid at an associate’s warehouse resulted in hand-written notes being seized which led investigators to his address.

Daniels sold powerful medicines with potentially dangerous side effects directly to the public. He often sold cheap, untested, unlicensed versions of these medicines and did so without any form of medical supervision or prescribing. His customers were put at serious risk by his activities.

Alastair Jeffrey, MHRA Head of Enforcement said:

Selling medicines outside of the regulated supply chain is a serious criminal offence. These criminals are motivated by greed and have no concern about your safety or welfare.

Always seek professional help and visit your GP if you are ill. If you buy medicines online, you are trusting a criminal to look after your health.

MHRA is currently running the #FakeMeds campaign to warn people against buying potentially dangerous or useless unlicensed medicines sold by illegal online suppliers.
Visit www.gov.uk/fakemeds for tips on buying medicines safely online and how to avoid unscrupulous sites.

Around 80,000 cubic meters of soil, that’s enough to fill 32 Olympic sized swimming pools, is being reused to help form the embankments on a nearby scheme.

By reusing this material it will benefit both schemes by reducing vehicle movements and costs. Transporting the soil will involve more than 10,000 lorry movements totalling over 60,000 miles.

The A19 Coast Road scheme is digging deep to remove the earth to form an underpass, creating the first triple decker roundabout in the North East.

As the soil is removed it will be transported to a site in Wardley where it will be stored to create the embankments for the A19 Testo’s scheme.

Highways England’s project manager for the A19 Testos scheme Paul Ahdal said:

This is just one of the many examples where Highways England is re-using materials which will not only reduce costs but also provide environmental benefits for both schemes.

Both of the schemes will provide smoother journeys for drivers along the A19 as they will no longer needing to negotiate the roundabouts. Work on the A19 Coast Road involves digging out an underpass and the A19 Testo’s involves creating a flyover structure over the roundabout. The excess soil will be used to form the embankments for the Testo’s scheme which is due to start in 2019 in the same year Coast Road is due to be completed.

This is just one of the ways the A19 Coast Road team is re-using or recycling excess material from site in line with Highways England’s Sustainable Development Strategy.

Around 250 tonnes of the old road surface has been donated to Benton Quarry Park in Benton and 160 metres of steel fence from the central reservation has been donated to Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields.

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