Pharmacist Mitesh Patel jailed for murdering wife to start new life with boyfriend

Patel was in trouble with Pharmaceutical Council

Monday 10th December 2018 20:01 EST
 

Murderer Mitesh Patel had been in trouble with the General Pharmaceutical Council before he killed his wife Jessica , it can be revealed. The 37-year-old was given life behind bars with a minimum 30 year term for murder last Wednesday at Teesside Crown Court .

Mitesh had cheated on his wife with other men and planned to emigrate to Australia with his "soulmate", Amit Patel. But before he murdered Jessica - then tried to cover his tracks by staging a burglary at their home - the couple ran Roman Road Pharmacy in Linthorpe .

A spokeswoman for the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPC) has confirmed that Patel's licence to practice pharmacy was suspended after he was arrested on suspicion of murder in June. That decision was reviewed on December 3 - the day before he was found guilty by a jury - and he will now remain suspended for another six months, before a further fitness to practice review decides whether to strike him off.

But it can now be revealed that Patel, while a Superintendent Pharmacist, was under investigation by the GPC in 2016. It was alleged that between April 1, 2015 and December 2, 2015, Patel had incorrectly stored Methadone - the heroin substitute - on a shelf in the pharmacy, when it should have been stored in a locked controlled drugs cabinet.

In a heated phone call to the Teesside Live newsdesk where Patel complained about a planning story just months before murdering Jessica, Patel claimed he had "fulfilled his boyhood dream" and built the pharmacy after purchasing it in 2012. However, a reader contacted Teesside Live to clarify that Patel and his wife had actually bought the business - which was already established - in 2015, not 2012 as he claimed to our reporter.

Last Tuesday, a jury convicted Patel of murder after four hours of deliberations.

Jessica's family read out three statements about the loyal and devoted daughter and sister, before Mr Justice Goss delivered the sentence at Teesside Crown Court. One of the family’s statements addressed Mitesh Patel, saying: "While she rests in heaven, you will rot in hell."

Patel strangled his 34-year-old wife to death in their home on The Avenue, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough on the evening of May 14. Then he ransacked his own home in a staged burglary, binding his wife's wrists and ankles with duct tape. Prosecutors said he then headed to the pharmacy he and his wife owned on Roman Road to set up an alibi. He then texted his wife - a message he knew she could not read - about food, and ordered pizza to create the illusion of an ordinary evening. The court heard that Patel stood to make £2m from Jessica's life insurance policy. He had been in a relationship with another man, Amit Patel, said to have been a doctor in Sydney, and planned to emigrate to Australia and spend his life with him. And Patel had been unfaithful by cheating on Jessica with other men he met on the Grindr app, and other gay dating sites. He had searched 'I want to kill my wife' online and watched videos on strangulation.

Meanwhile Jessica’s sister Minal said Jessica was "beautiful inside and out" and wanted nothing more than to fall in love and have a family and now the 34-year-old's dreams will remain unfulfilled.

A statement written by Jessica's father Jayantilal Patel, was read to the court by her cousin, Gayutri Patel. It read: "As a father, to know that your child has been murdered can only be described as very, very devastating. Before I lost my wife Harsha, she had told my sister-in-law Shila that she had no concerns or worries about our daughters because she knew that I loved my daughters and would look after them. Sometimes now I feel as if I have let Harsha down, I have failed to protect my daughter. If only I had just picked something up to indicate that this was to happen in a few hours on the same day that I was there on that Monday. Then to be told three days on that it's none other than my own son-in-law who has been arrested in connection with my daughter's murder and almost 32 hours later to be told that he is being charged, believe me I cannot find the words to express.

"Mitesh was our son-in-law but we all saw and treated him as part of our family, as good as our own son. We trusted him with our daughter, to love and protect her. My family and I cannot come to terms with this, what have we done wrong and why would you do this? If he wanted to part with Jessica he could have spoken to me or any member of this family. Nobody has the right to be so selfish and deceive his own."

A statement written by Jessica's grandmother was also read to the court by her stepmother, Roshni Patel. It said: "With my own hands I brought up Jessica, my first grandchild from when she was a small little girl. She was quiet, well behaved and would always be laughing and smiling. I really can't express in words just how much she meant to me. I question myself, what mistake did she make that she received this big a punishment. He could have divorced her and with happiness we would have welcomed her back and kept her safe with our love. Until her last breath she suffered."

The third and longest statement was from Jessica’s younger siblings including her two sisters and three cousins, who all grew up together, and two of their partners. It was read out by Jessica’s youngest sister Divya. It said: "We miss her more than she will ever know: she was and always will be our eldest sister. Jess was beautiful both on the inside and out. Her soul was pure, her heart ever so kind and the love and generosity she afforded to everyone in her life was second to none. The thing that set her apart from everybody else was her beautiful smile, which encapsulated her warm nature and innocence. A moment that summarises her so well is when my uncle was diagnosed with cancer, Jess came to visit, she was crying and laid her head on his chest and said to him 'if I could take this cancer off you I would gladly take it'. An incredible gesture from someone so selfless.”


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