Doctor who battled opioid addiction spared criminal record for stealing and forging prescriptions
Tom Tuite
A medical doctor, who attributed his opioid addiction to work stress and admitted to stealing and using forged prescriptions, has walked free from court.
Daniel Nevin (40) avoided jail and a criminal record after pleading guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to 10 charges from an original 46 counts on a full facts basis, concerning the theft of prescription pads from two hospitals, forgery, and the use of false instruments between 2021 and 2024.
His co-defendant and fiancée, Rebecca Moylan (35) a qualified nurse, was trying to help him cope with his addiction and admitted to stealing prescriptions and unlawfully using them in pharmacies.
Judge Keenan Johnson had emphasised that these offences undermined the integrity of the medical prescription system and noted Nevin was in the throes of an addiction but had never put a patient at risk.
He stated the couple whose reputations had been tarnished had only damaged themselves, saying, "The main victims of this are the two accused".
Nevin achieved a PhD from Trinity College, specialising in pharmacology, and had worked in medical research in Australia with his former college tutor before returning to Ireland to continue his studies, qualifying as a medical doctor in 2018.
When the addiction started a year later, he tried to tackle it, but relapsed during the period of offending.
Judge Johnson remarked that Nevin was a "high achiever," but considered how he had removed himself from working on wards as a clinician and moved into a tutoring role at Midlands Regional General Hospital, Mullingar.
He had noted references furnished to the court and recognised the pressures placed on medical professionals working 24-hour shifts in busy environments.
He stated that they had paid a heavy price and did not reach the threshold for a custodial sentence.
Judge Johnson had ruled that the couple could avoid convictions if Nevin and his fiancée donated €15,000 and €5,000, respectively, to the Merchant Quay drug treatment project as a form of restorative justice.
On Thursday, the doctor's donation of the specified sum was confirmed; Judge Johnson finalised his case by applying the Probation of Offenders Act.
Ms Moylan had also complied and received the same outcome in her case last year.
Among the doctor's charges were thefts of prescriptions from University Hospital Galway between July 2021 and July 2023, and from the Midlands Regional General Hospital in Mullingar, from July 10th, 2023, until February 18th, 2024.
The remaining charges he admitted included three counts of using false prescriptions at pharmacies in Kells, Co Meath; Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath; and Tullamore, Co Offaly, on various dates.
There were also five counts of forging prescriptions.
Rebecca Moylan admitted theft of prescription pads from St James's Hospital in Dublin from September 1st, 2023, until November of that year.
She also pleaded guilty to using prescriptions forged by her partner in pharmacies.
The couple used a fake patient's name on most of the prescriptions to get the OxyContin, a highly addictive opioid based medicine.
They were exposed when a pharmacist in Mullingar became suspicious and contacted the hospital in Galway. It had no record of the prescription or the named patient.
Detective Garda Kevin Lennon told prosecutor Cathal Ó Braonáin BL, instructed by State solicitor Matt Shaw, that Moylan, originally from Co Galway, used the prescriptions in pharmacies in Mullingar.
Dr Daniel Nevin signed them and also included his medical council registration number.
Moylan was also recorded on CCTV collecting medicines.
There was a similar incident using an Irish version of the doctor's surname.
The detective obtained a search warrant, went to their home at Greenpark Meadows, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and uncovered "a large quantity of various medications" and stolen prescription pads.
The couple were interviewed and made admissions.
Giving evidence earlier, the doctor agreed with his defence senior counsel Colm Smyth SC that the "stress and strain of the job precipitated and aggravated my addiction"; he initially managed to buy opioids online before he sought help to tackle the problem.
The medical council was aware of his struggle, and its health committee engaged with him for two years while he remained under the supervision of a doctor and a psychiatrist.
He explained that after a substantial period of sobriety, he had a relapse, resulting in a prolonged absence from work and "I took myself out of the clinician domain" and switched to a teaching role in the hospital, adding that he was passionate about education.
He acknowledged the consequences have been devastating, expressed remorse and explained that he is attending addiction counselling.
Mr Smyth and Dara Foynes SC pleaded for maximum leniency. Ms Foynes asked the judge to note that Moylan acted out of the highest level of compassion and "got caught up in the slipstream of what happened to her partner."
