Company Boss And Medicine Man Cleared Of £1.1M Nicked Pills Charges

'Not Guilty': Vincent Quigley

A company director and a pharmaceutical dealer, accused of handling £1.1 million worth of medicinal drugs stolen from a lorry nine years ago, have been dramatically cleared after the prosecution was dropped nearly three weeks before their Old Bailey trial.

Vincent Quigley, 67, of 27 Daleside, Thornhill, Dewsbury and Kenyan-born Mahmoud Azizi, 56, of Princess Court, Bryanston Place, Mayfair, who was extradited in custody from Canada, were due to stand trial on November 24.

Quigley pleaded not guilty to one count of handling and one count of receiving stolen goods on or before October 16, 2007, namely 1,620,000 Comtan tablets; 510,000 Lopressor tablets and 480,000 Femara tablets.

The tablets, which had been stolen in 2005, were traced to a warehouse in Yorkshire on October 16, 2007 by a private detective hired by the loser, Swiss-based Norvartis International.

Comtan is prescribed to patients with Parkinson's Disease; Lopressor is for the treatment of high blood pressure and Femara is for breast cancer patients.

Canadian citizen Azizi, who was extradited from Vancouver, pleaded not guilty to one count of receiving stolen goods on October 16, 2007, namely medicinal products belonging to Norvartis International.

After the prosecution announced on November 6 they would not be offering any evidence not guilty verdicts were entered on all counts.