A DOCTOR who forged prescriptions after becoming hooked on powerful painkilling drugs has been spared jail - and could eventually return to work.

Dr Robin Wade used his position as a family GP in Darlington to dupe chemists across the town into handing over painkillers after writing out prescriptions in his patients' names without their knowledge.

Teesside Crown Court heard that his addiction to prescription painkillers was such that at one stage he even took to injecting pethadine and morphine from his surgery's own supply.

Dr Wade, 53, a GP at Moorlands Surgery, in Willow Road, had pleaded guilty to four offences of obtaining property by deception, and asked for 18 similar offences to be taken into account.

All of the offences were committed between February 19 and June 24 last year.

He was told by Recorder Mark Gargan that he had committed a "grave breach of trust", but he stopped short of jailing him.

Instead, the GP was fined £3,000 with £190 costs after hearing that his patients had not suffered as a result of his actions and that he had made no financial gain.

Dr Wade, of Linden Avenue, Darlington, who was suspended by the Darlington Primary Care Trust (PCT) in September last year, has since left his practice and is no longer employed by the trust.

He now faces fitness to practice proceedings brought by the General Medical Council, but, depending on that outcome, he could continue to practise as a GP, albeit with strict conditions.

David Wilkinson, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said that suspicions arose on June 17 last year when Dr Wade presented a prescription in his son's name to Carling's Pharmacy, in Darlington, for 200 codeine phosphate tablets and 200 paracetamol tablets.

A joint investigation, involving the police and the NHS Counter Fraud Service, later recovered a quantity of prescriptions issued by the doctor made out in the name of his patients and his son, which were dispensed by chemists in Darlington.

Jason Pitter, for Dr Wade, said that after initially suffering from depression, he was prescribed painkillers legitimately, but as his addiction escalated, he was unable to satisfy it this way.

He is now clean of both drink and drugs.

A spokesman for the PCT defended its decision not to suspend Dr Wade immediately.

He said: "It was felt that, until enough evidence had been gathered, no action should be taken.

"Once the investigation had revealed what it did, the trust then took action at the earliest opportunity."

Darren Aldrich, a spokesman for the NHS Counter Fraud Service, said: "GPs are trusted members of society but unfortunately there is a minority that abuse this trust - Dr Wade is one of them."