Doctor stole prescription pads from hospitals and used them to feed his drug addiction, court heard

Accused pleaded guilty to theft and forgery of prescriptions

Dr Daniel Nevin, 39, of Greenpark Meadows, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to forgery and stealing prescriptions. Picture: Tom Tuite

A medical doctor suffering from drug addiction has pleaded guilty to forgery, stealing prescription pads from two major hospitals and using them in pharmacies around the Midlands over a three-year period.

Daniel Nevin, 39, of Greenpark Meadows, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty on Tuesday at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to 10 counts on an indictment for offences of theft, forgery and using false instruments, committed from 2021 until 2024.

His 34-year-old partner, Rebecca Moylan, who has the same address, admitted stealing prescription pads from a hospital and unlawfully using them in pharmacies in Mullingar.

Sentencing was adjourned pending reports on his efforts to tackle his addiction to prescription drugs.

Among the charges against the doctor were two thefts of prescription pads from University Hospital Galway between July 2021 and July 2023 and the Midlands Regional General Hospital Mullingar from July 10, 2023, until February 18, 2024.

The remaining charges Nevin admitted included three counts of using false prescriptions in pharmacies in Kells, Co Meath, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, and Tullamore, Co Offaly, on various dates. There were also five counts of forging prescriptions.

He was initially sent forward for trial on 49 charges in the book of evidence, but guilty pleas were entered to 10 on a “full facts” basis.

Colm Smyth SC, defending, said Nevin was a young medical doctor who had suffered from addiction to prescription drugs since 2019.

Mr Smyth said Nevin was referred to the medical council at that time, and it was supportive. But he relapsed, and that led to the offences before the court.

He has been engaging with a GP, another doctor who is a rehabilitation specialist, and a psychiatrist about other trauma issues.

Nevin has been involved in a “weaning process” from drugs and has been providing monthly urine analysis, the court heard.

Mr Smyth asked that sentencing be delayed so various reports would be available, and by that stage, Nevin would have been providing urine analysis for a year.

Judge Keenan Johnson remanded him on continuing bail pending sentence to appear again in July along with his 34-year-old fiancee.

Rebecca Moylan admitted theft of prescriptions from St James’s Hospital in Dublin from September 1, 2023, until November of that year.

She also owned up to using false prescriptions in three pharmacies.

The defence told Judge Johnson she used the prescriptions to assist someone who was in “chronic pain”.