Forged prescription for painkillers lands accused in jail for one day

PENTICTON –  A local man who pleaded guilty to using a forged prescription got off with a one-day jail sentence and never had to leave the Penticton Courthouse.

Alexander Milne, 60, was caught on March 3, 2014 trying to get a prescription filled using a forged document. Milne, who suffers from an auto-immune deficiency had visited several doctors looking for medication to deal with his pain. After a couple doctors turned him down, he used a prescription for hydromorphine, a highly addictive drug, that was given to him by someone other than a doctor.

The prescription was written on a pad that had been stolen from a Keremos doctor, who notified all pharmacies in the area a week earlier.

Due to his illness and inability to work, Milne was homeless for a period earlier in the year and missed a court date, which was included in his sentencing today in Provincial Court.

Judge Gale Sinclair sentenced Milne to one day in prison—he was checked in and out at the courthouse—and nine months probation.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.