A man has been convicted and fined for a burglary at a GP practice in Worcestershire.
Russell Purfield, 42, pled guilty to the charge of burglary last week, and has been ordered to attend a drug rehabilitation programme as well as pay a fine of £100 on top of £300 in costs and victim compensation.
The burglary took place on 28 December at the Riverside Surgery GP practice, which serves over 15,000 patients, and the man was arrested two weeks later at an address nearby.
‘Further stolen property was located at the address where he was arrested, and investigations are ongoing in connection to this,’ the police confirmed earlier this week.
Police Constable Martin Kennedy from Evesham SNT said: ‘The Safer Neighbourhood Team are committed to working with the community and taking positive action to catch and convict offenders whenever possible.’
There have been several crimes at GP practices in recent months – at the start of the year, a man was charged with criminal damage and abusive behaviour following an incident where windows and glass panels were smashed at a health centre in Bristol.
And in November, a GP practice in Stoke-on-Trent had to call the police after a member of staff was threatened with a knife.
Pulse’s investigation into the effects of abuse earlier this year showed a 16% rise in crimes involving violence at GP surgeries since 2019, after a drop in incidents during the pandemic.
In 2022, Londonwide LMCs told Pulse it was working with the Metropolitan Police to produce guidance for GP practices on how to minimise violence towards staff, however the guidance has not yet been published.
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