Western Daily Press

GP chased after raider on pharmacy

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A DOCTOR chased and detained a man he saw trying to break into a chemist next to his surgery.

Lee Prouse ran away after being spotted crouching down beside the door of the Boots pharmacy.

A GP who had been working late at the Wellington Medical Centre in Somerset set off in pursuit and dragged him to the ground. There was a struggle during which Prouse told the doctor ‘I have ammunition’.

Despite the threats the medic managed to hold on to him until police arrived.

Prouse, who has a long criminal record, was given a suspended sentence at Taunton Crown Court after admitting attempted burglary.

The incident happened in June when police were called to the medical centre by the GP.

He had been working late and was leaving at 8.30pm when he saw a man holding an axe fiddling with the door of the adjacent pharmacy.

The man, who turned out to be 33-year-old Prouse, reacted with shock at being spotted and started walking away before quickening into a sprint. The doctor gave chase and caught up with Prouse when he tried to bolt over the entrance gate.

Grabbing his foot and pulling him down the doctor managed to restrain him by his wrists on the ground.

Harry Ahuja, prosecutin­g, said the doctor was too scared to let go because he knew Prouse had an axe and thought he might be attacked.

“He feared for his life,” said the prosecutor. “With hindsight he was not sure whether he should have gone after him.”

Prouse, of Priory, Wellington, now has a job and has come off drugs.

He must do 30 rehabilita­tion days with probation as part of a 10-month suspended sentence.

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