A couple from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, were sentenced at Northampton Crown Court in late April for possession with intent to supply unlicensed medicinal products and Class C controlled drugs in the UK. Following a guilty plea, Mr Jakub Woźniak, 36, was sentenced to a total of 18 months immediate custody while Ms Izabela Wojceichowska, 37, received an eight-month sentence suspended for two years, in addition to 180 hours of unpaid work. The pair were also ordered to pay £3,000 in related costs.
Despite neither being registered doctors nor pharmacists, the pair were operating an illegal online pharmacy which provided a mail order service with customers across the UK.
During one raid enforcement officers from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) seized large quantities of unlicensed and prescription-only medicines such as erectile dysfunction pills, steroids and illegal slimming tablets with a total value of more than £25,500.
Additional investigations uncovered evidence of financial transactions for the sale of unauthorised medicines totalling more than £87,500 while a follow-up raid on Woźniak’s home revealed he had continued offending after the first raid and a further £10,752.4 worth of steroids were seized.
Alastair Jeffrey, MHRA Head of Enforcement said: “Selling potent unlicensed or prescription-only medicines is a serious criminal offence. If taken without medical supervision these medicines can be very dangerous. We work relentlessly with regulatory and law enforcement colleagues to identify and prosecute all those involved.”
