Lisa Nightingale reports:
A former heroin addict with a criminal record spanning 30 years has apologised for stealing a computer from a GPs’ surgery.
David Graham walked out of Flagg Court Primary Care Centre, South Shields, with one of its computers, containing patients’ files, on November 9.
The 44-year-old, a former patient at the surgery, appeared before South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to one count of entering as a trespasser and stealing a computer and monitor worth £300.
Read more in the Shields Gazette.
The computer, which contained encrypted patient records, was recovered from his home.
Updated Nov. 20: Graham, who has 37 previous convictions dating back to 1975, was sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to undertake a 12-month drug and rehabilitation order.