Busted

Drug addict wanted to impersonate a pharmacist

The defendant was convicted of forgery.(Bild: Chantal Dorn, Krone KREATIV)

In order to obtain benzodiazepines and sleeping pills, an addict presented forged prescriptions - and was caught. He had to answer for this at the Feldkirch Regional Court on Tuesday. 

His drug addiction has already made the 34-year-old from Unterland a disabled pensioner. His criminal record also sheds light on the messed-up life of the father of a five-year-old boy. However, twelve previous convictions, six of them relevant, did not stop the man from reoffending.

On Tuesday, the 34-year-old had to answer for his most recent misconduct at Feldkirch Regional Court. He was charged with obtaining benzodiazepines and sleeping pills from a pharmacy in Dornbirn on several occasions using forged prescriptions. He was successful twice in this way.

 The pharmacist began to find the matter strange 
When the addict presented another prescription for the same pills shortly afterwards, the pharmacist began to think that things were getting strange. After suspecting that something might be wrong with the prescriptions, he called the alleged issuer of the prescription. The call to the defendant's doctor finally confirmed the pharmacist's uneasy gut feeling. The 34-year-old was then reported to the police.

"You must be threatened with a prison sentence"
During the trial, the repeat offender pleaded guilty to the charges. Judge Alexander Wehinger found the man guilty of forgery and imposed a conditional prison sentence of four months and a fine of 900 euros. "You must be threatened with a prison sentence. After all, the imposition of fines has done no good so far." The council found the comprehensive confession mitigating. However, the twelve previous convictions were aggravating.