'Overworked' postman hoarded 30,000 items of mail - Update

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/Overw ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Update of http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=39608" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A POSTMAN has admitted hoarding more than 30,000 letters and parcels in his shed over two years claiming he did not have enough time to do his rounds.

At Torbay magistrates, Paul Willicott (pictured) pleaded guilty to taking undelivered items of post back to his home in Fernicombe Road, Paignton.

Magistrates heard he felt overworked and did not have enough time to deliver all post within his four hours.

As far back as 2008 mail from the Chelston area started mounting up at his home as he hoped but failed to deliver post gradually on future shifts.

Stephen Nunn, prosecuting on behalf of the Royal Mail, told the court that the 44-year-old postie was found with 67 sacks of mail in his house and shed and six more sacks in the boot of his car.

In total, Willicott, who has now been dismissed by the Royal Mail, hoarded 30,304 items including 21,230 letters and 8,900 door-to-door packages. One third of all post was junk mail.

Mr Nunn told the court that although there was no element of theft, hundreds of residents and businesses would have been affected by Willicott's post hoarding.

He said: "This came to light when a member of the public reported that mail had been seen in the garage owned by a local community charity.

"Upon investigation, 174 undelivered letters and pack ages were found there. The defendant was interviewed by management and expressed surprise at the undelivered mail. He could not explain why and how it had ended up there."

Mr Nunn said Willicott agreed to have his house searched. He added: "The search of his car revealed six sacks of mail while 67 sacks of mail were found in his house and shed. He made a full admission and gave his reasons."

The discovery was made on June 27 this year.

Willicott, a father-of-two, pleaded guilty to two charges of intentionally delaying post between October 2008 and June 2011 when he appeared before the courts on Friday, October 15.

Richard Porrett, mitigating, said Willicott had been working part time for the Royal Mail since 2008 until June 2011 when he was found out and dismissed.

He said he was a man of previously good character who had been overwhelmed by difficult working hours.

Mr Porrett told the court: "He was supposed to deliver eight satchels of post in four hours. It was a long round and it often took him more than five hours to do it.

"Even then there often was some post left over. He couldn't take it back to the office for fear of being in trouble so he took the mail home.

"He hoped to deliver it gradually during his other rounds.

"But the amount grew in his house and shed. He complained to the managers that he couldn't deliver that amount of post in such a short time. They told him a new system would be put in place. Then the discovery of the mail happened."

Mr Porrett said the Royal Mail changed the delivery system and two posties and a van replaced Willicott on his rounds. He added: "It shows the amount of work he had to do."

Magistrates ordered a full sentence report to be prepared and released Willicott on unconditional bail to reappear before the court on Wednesday, November 9, for sentencing.

After the hearing a Royal Mail spokesman said: "Where we are alerted to problems, either through our own stringent checks or from information supplied by our customers, we take decisive action to investigate.

"Every item of mail is very important to us. We have a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty and this stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women, who are honest and hardworking and who do all they can to protect the mail and deliver it safely.

"We will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust."

[Phantom]

Why didn't this person cut off?

[clashcityrocker]

He couldn't take it back to the office for fear of being in trouble so he took the mail home.

[DGP1]

After the hearing a Royal Mail spokesman said: "Where we are alerted to problems, either through our own stringent checks or from information supplied by our customers, we take decisive action to investigate.

Just goes to show how stringent their checks really are when it takes 3 years to find out.

[Straight4ward]

Not trying to excuse what he did but his manager ignored the warning signs

He complained to the managers that he couldn't deliver that amount of post in such a short time.

- - - and got fobbed off.

Also, given that mail was found in his car, I'm guessing that he used his own car to deliver. Did management turned a blind eye to this because it suited their purposes?

Think his manager should be retrained at least.

[General Mannerheim]

His manager will be promoted for a job well done!

[brothermagrew]

Remove the use of private cars on delivery thereby reducing the temptation to take mail home in the car

[NWpostie]

The saddest part of this, is that it could have been prevented in the first place, he keeps his job, TM reputation protected, with a more proactive support he could haves kept his job, mail got delivered, with a more robust attitude he could have forced the management to acknowledge the problem and deal with it, instead they don't look beyond today and their bonus.

There will be more cases like this in future.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail postman failed to deliver 30,000 items of mail
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/0 ... sfeed=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A postman who hoarded 30,000 letters and parcels in his house, car and a garage, has been ordered to do 280 hours of unpaid work.

Paul Willicott claimed that he did not have enough time to deliver all the mail he was expected to handle during his four-hour round. He became so overwhelmed he ended up stashing unopened mail in his car and in his home in Paignton, Devon.

Willicott, 44, told magistrates in Torbay that his intention was to deliver all the mail when his workload was lighter but that he was never able to catch up.

David Thompson, chair of the bench, told Willicott it was "an extremely serious matter". He said: "People have a right to expect their mail to appear at the appointed time. This was a large amount of mail, it was obviously taken over a large period of time. It constitutes a significant breach of trust."

But the magistrates made allowances for the fact that Willicott said he had made several attempts to tell his manager that he was overloaded. The court heard he hid his actions from his wife and two children. None of the letters and parcels had been opened.

Willicott was caught after a member of the public spotted him putting mail into the garage. The magistrates heard the garage was searched and that 174 undelivered items of mail were found. More mail was found in the boot of his car, and, at his home, there were 67 mailbags full of post. A third of the undelivered post was junk mail but two-thirds were letters and packets destined for homes on his round.

Richard Porritt, mitigating, said: "During the course of his round he had to deliver eight bags full of post. He couldn't do it in four hours; it took him sometimes five, sometimes five and a half hours, to get all the mail round.

"It was part of the culture that you did not take mail back to the depot unless there was a very good reason. At the end of the four hours there was a bag of post left and he was stuck behind a rock and a hard place.

"He concealed it intending to deliver it at another time. It became more and more frequent and over time the number increased and eventually it was discovered."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Every item of mail is very important to us. We have a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty and this stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women."

Willicott was ordered to pay £1,700 costs, half of the total Royal Mail spent investigating him. He admitted two charges under the Postal Services Act of delaying a postal packet or mailbag between October 2008 and June this year.He had been employed as a postman, working from the Torquay delivery office from 2008, but was sacked this year.

[Throgg]

I'm a little bit confused, how do you keep 67 sacks of mail in your house without your wife and kids seeing it or knowing about it?

[Postman Plodd]

sacks are like trays of mech, according to RM thats an average of 2 letters per sack

[DirtyHarry]

I used to lay all the blame squarely on the individual involved.
Not anymore, no.
I blame Royal Mail and it's inhuman management structure, entirely.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

'Sorry' from postman who hoarded 30,000 items of mail

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/story ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A POSTMAN who hoarded more than 30,000 items of mail at his Paignton home has apologised.

Paul Willicott said he was sorry for not delivering the thousands of letters and parcels and for 'being guilty of stupidity'.

The 44-year-old father-of-two, who was spared jailed by Torbay magistrates when he appeared for sentencing, claimed he and his family have been victims of a summer-long hate campaign.

Following last week's hearing, Willicott said: "I am sorry to everyone. I can't apologise enough for what I have done.

"I have apologised to the Royal Mail, to my former colleagues and to people.

"Hopefully, people will not lose their trust in the Royal Mail. Again, I am sorry.

"I hope the hate campaign my family and I have been suffering will now stop."

Magistrates heard how a 'Post Office culture of never returning post to the depot' left Willicott unable to cope with his rounds.

Richard Porrett, mitigating, told the court that Willicott had tried to approach his managers on several occasions about his difficulties but he was ignored only to be told that a new delivery system would soon be put in place.

Willicott was caught with 67 sacks of undelivered post in his house, six more in the boot of his car and 174 letters and parcels in a garage used by a charity for which he volunteered.

Peter Woodley, prosecuting on behalf of the Royal Mail, said mail from the Chelston area of Torquay started mounting up at his home from as far back as 2008 as he hoped but failed to deliver post gradually on future shifts.

He told the court that in total, Willicott, who has now been dismissed, hoarded 30,304 items including 21,230 letters and 8,900 door-to-door packages. One third of all post was junk mail.

Mr Woodley said: "This came to light when a member of the public reported that mail had been seen in the garage owned by a local community charity."

Mr Woodley said Willicott agreed to have his house searched in June this year.

He added: "The search of his car revealed six sacks of mail while 67 sacks of mail were found in his house and shed.

"He made a full admission and gave his reasons."

Willicott pleaded guilty to two counts of delaying post and taking undelivered mail to his home in Fernicombe Road, Paignton, at a court hearing in October.

Following his sentence, he said: "I kept convincing myself that I could do it but the post kept mounting and mounting. I was naive.

"I soon became overwhelmed and I panicked. I was guilty of stupidity."

Mr Porrett added in his defence: "He had to deliver eight sacks of mail in four-and-a-half hours when it often took more than five hours to do it.

"He couldn't do it and complained to colleagues and managers about it.

"But it was part of the Post Office culture never to bring post back to the depot unless you had a good reason.

"At the end of his rounds he would take post back to his home rather than risk the sack.

"He intended to deliver the mail later but it mounted and became a huge amount.

"He was discovered and lost his job. He didn't benefit from this.

"His round still exists and the Royal Mail now uses two postmen and a van which shows he had too much to do."

Sentencing Willicott to a 12-month community order with 280 hours of unpaid work and £1,700 in compensation, chairman of the bench David Thompson said: "People have a right to expect their mail to arrive at the appointed time.

"There was a large amount of mail and it went on for a while.

"But you didn't make any financial gain. You have been remorseful.

"This offence could have resulted in a prison sentence but we feel it would not serve the interests of justice."

[TeeferTiger]

"He was discovered and lost his job. He didn't benefit from this.

"His round still exists and the Royal Mail now uses two postmen and a van which shows he had too much to do."

But his manager still won't face any action will he?!

[slave]

But his manager still won't face any action will he?!

Nope, managers mis-manage and bully and them buffoons higher up turn a blind eye and deny any knowledge of wrong doing.

I don't condone the guy for hoarding mail, but managers have a habit of bullying soft people into working over / taking more than they can cope with, f***ing disgusting that this shower of s**t still gets away with it though. Union, where are you, this is still going on?

Ah well, lets hope that P&L gets introduced everywhere with vans back to the office, no excuse for this s**t then is there.. Stand strong, know your rights and don't let the f***ers grind you down!!!!!