London, December 30: An Indian-origin pharmacist who supplied a drug addict with illegal under-the-counter drugs has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by a UK court.

Dushyant Patel, 67, a London pharmacist with more than 40 years experience, had supplied Class C drugs, or drugs that are illegal under UK law to possess, supply or prescribe, to a drug user for months in 2020, according to a court report by ‘Norwich Evening News'. Indian-American Rajeev Badyal Among 30 Selected by Kamala Harris To Serve on National Space Council's Users Advisory Group.

Local police identified Patel as a suspect four months after the death in Norwich, eastern England, of Alisha Siddiqi, whose body was found at a property in the city in August 2020.

According to the local media report, an initial post-mortem examination on Alisha Siddiqi was inconclusive, but toxicology results were to show she died from an overdose of prescription medication.

Her phone was analysed and showed frequent communication with Patel between January and August 2020. Patel was jailed at Norwich Crown Court earlier this month after a trial when he was found guilty of two counts of being concerned in supplying a controlled drug of Class C to another between March and August 2020.

Sentencing him to 18 months in custody, Judge Alice Robinson said it had been a "very serious breach of trust" by the pharmacist. There was also communication regarding transactions relating to the sale of prescription drugs including Class C drugs, without a prescription, namely Zolpidem and Zopiclone. Canada Bus Crash: Indian-Origin Man From Amritsar Among Four Killed After Vehicle Overturned on Icy Highway in British Columbia on Christmas Eve.

The court was told that Patel had not been charged with any offences in relation to her death, only with the supply of illegal drugs. He and his wife ran a pharmacy in east London, which the trial heard was the "backdrop" to the offences as he supplied drugs "under the counter" to Siddiqi over the course of a few months. The prosecution said he was receiving money in exchange.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)