More security needed to protect staff at chemists says Heading

Cllr Heading was speaking after a pharmacy on the Stewartstown Road was held up by a man armed with a knife on Monday afternoon.

He said: “Although this man, brandishing a six-inch blade, did not take any money, he did take an amount of morphine-based drug oxycontin.

“As with similar drugs robberies from pharmacies, this could be for personal use, it could be for sale, but either way, this is a very dangerous substance to take without a proper prescription.

“I urge all business owners, but particularly pharmacy proprietors, to look at ways of ramping up security to ensure the protection of their staff, their business and their customers.”