A dodgy doctor who scammed almost £70,000 from the NHS and stole prescription books to get his hands on drugs has been jailed.

Wallington man Namasivayam Thiagalingam has been jailed for three years and is also likely to be banned from being a doctor after he was found guilty of three counts of fraud and one of theft against the NHS.

Thiagalingam claimed money for shifts he did not work at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill to the tune of £68,850 since 2009 and stole prescription books from a surgery in Kent which he then tried use to prescribe himself huge quantities of drugs at the Day Lewis pharmacy in Mollison Square.

Thiagalingam, of Clarice Way, put his demeanour down to the break up of his marriage and the death of his parents which caused him to turn to alcohol, but Judge Suzan Matthews, sitting at Guildford Crown Court yesterday, said the only person to blame was him.

Staff at the East Surrey Hospital became suspicious when auditors noticed a huge overspend in pay to locum doctors.

A lengthy investigation, which cost the NHS £28,000 and involved checking almost 30,000 patient records, revealed Thiagalingam has claimed money for shifts he did not work by forging signatures.

The fraud went on between 2009 and 2011 and when it came to light he was suspended. Thiagalingam, who has previous convictions for drink-driving and driving while disqualified, also stole dispensing pads, which are authorised for doctors to use to write prescriptions, from a surgery in Kent.

Under a different doctor's name he went to the Day Lewis pharmacy to order a prescription for a large amount of drugs.

The employee at the time did not have all the drugs Thiagalingam asked for so placed an order for the rest to be delivered to the shop. The manager of the store saw the huge order and reported it.

Thiagalingam was arrested when he went to pick up the prescription.

Sentencing, Judge Matthews said: "You said that your patients were the only thing that mattered. Sadly, that is untrue.

"You took nearly £70,000 and drugs for your own benefit - that was money that was not available to help patients."

Judge Matthews said she did take into account his personal circumstances, his alcoholism and the fact he would probably never work as a doctor again, but said she had no option but to send him to jail.

Thiagalingam will have to pay back his ill-gotten gains after a proceeds of crime hearing later in the year.