A MORPHINE addict who got hooked in a Thailand hospital then created false identities to dupe county GPs out of the drug.

Christopher Clark, 47, admitted illegally obtaining £8,849 of the drug from medics in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire.

The commercial investigator, who tours the world, conned West Street Surgery, Chipping Norton, and the county’s out-of-hours service.

Lisa Hennessy, prosecuting, told Gloucester Crown Court the scam began in 2008 and ended when he confessed to an NHS fraud specialist in 2010.

He would lie about being in the area on business and running out of his medication, she said.

She added: “He had apparently become addicted to it in a Bangkok hospital while he was being treated for a hereditary blood disorder.”

Fiona Campbell, defending, said Clark, of Stow-on-the-Wold, had suffered family suicides and his mother’s dementia but his addiction was under control.

Clark was given a suspended nine month sentence, along with supervision for a year and a requirement to attend a mental health specified activity requirement for eight sessions.