Published Date: 08 October 2008
A novice postman lost his job after dumping letters in Ripley – and was told by a judge that he threatened public trust in the Royal Mail.
Thomas Porter, 21, was ordered to do 200 hours community work after a court heard he could not cope with the job.
A four-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, was also imposed on Porter, of Needham Street, Codnor. At Derby Magistrates' Cour
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t, he admitted intentionally delaying the mail.
He had only been in the job for two months when two bags of mail were found dumped in Asher Lane, Ripley, said Martin Smith, prosecuting.
Porter was suspended on April 1 and an investigation began.
Officers found 2,016 postal packets in his vehicle, including five in his Royal Mail jacket. Checks at home revealed 18 in the lounge and 230 in his wheelie bin, which also contained 2,800 items of unsolicited mail.
Porter, who now works as a delivery manager for another firm, must pay £450 towards the investigation costs carried out by the Post Office.
Giles Tyas, mitigating, said Porter had problems coping with the job almost as soon as he started.
"He did feel thrown in at the deep end and tried to deal with it in his spare time.
"He is very remorseful indeed and knows this has had an effect on a large part of the community."
District Judge Gwyn Jones told him: "You were unable to cope with the workload and rather than speak to your colleagues, you put your head in the sand."
But he pointed out that he had never been in trouble before and had shown "a great deal of remorse" about the case.
, I suppose he now has the perfect skills for it (lying, cheating, hiding things and a brush with the courts). 