Manager stole £25k from Gwynedd sub post office

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THE former manager of a sub post office has been warned he faces a prison sentence after he was convicted of stealing nearly £25,000.

Damian Peter Owen denied the theft and claimed he was untrained and working on an unreliable computer at the Glanadda branch in Caernarfon Road, Bangor.

But a jury yesterday took less than an hour to find Owen guilty of theft.

Owen, 28, of Water Street in Menai Bridge was bailed by Judge Niclas Parry, sitting at Mold Crown Court, pending sentence before Christmas.


The theft came to light when Post Office officials visited to install a new computer system. They found discrepancies in the stock and cash with total deficiencies of £24,867 between April 2009 and August 2010.

Prosecutor John Gibson said Owen had adjusted the amount of stock he had to make up for the lack of cash, and when the visit was over he adjusted it back again to deliberately disguise that he’d taken money. Initially there were £2,400 worth of coins at the post office but that increased to nearly £26,000.

“The amount of coinage he was supposed to be holding at the post office was ridiculous,” said Mr Gibson.

The Post Office did not have any record of Owen running the post office.

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Bangor post office manager jailed for stealing almost £25k http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-w ... -30005165/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THE former manager of a sub post office who stole almost £25,000 has been jailed for eight months.

Damian Peter Owen had denied the theft and claimed he was untrained and working on an unreliable computer.

But a jury took less than an hour to find Owen guilty of theft from the Glanadda sub post office on Caernarfon Road, Bangor, following trial earlier this month.

Judge Niclas Parry, sentencing him at Mold Crown Court sitting in Chester, said it was “a serious breach of trust” and a high value loss.

There had been an element of sophistication, he said, because he new that he could “hide” the missing money by increasing the amount of coinage which he knew was not subject to audit.

The judge said he would be treated as a man of good character, and it was accepted he was a hard-working, family man who was highly regarded.

“You clearly acted out of character,” the judge told him.

Judge Parry said that he appreciated custody would be very difficult for him and that the case was “a personal tragedy” for him.

Peter Moss, defending, handed in a large number of references and said it was clear that people thought highly of him.

Owen, he said, was a loving and devoted son, husband and father of a 10-month old baby. Family and friends were in court to offer him support.

Owen, 28, of Water Street, Menai Bridge, was caught out when Post Office officials visited in order to install a new computer system.

They found discrepancies in stock and cash, with total deficiencies of £24,867 between April 2009 and August 2010.

Prosecutor John Gibson said that in panic, Owen had adjusted the amount of stock he had before the visit to make up for the lack of cash, and when the visit was over he adjusted it back.

Records showed that initially there were £2,400 worth of coins at the post office, but they were said to have increased to nearly £26,000, compared to the £9,000 held in notes.

“The amount of coinage he was supposed to be holding at the post office was ridiculous,” said Mr Gibson.

The Post Office did not have any record of Owen running the post office.

Owen did not accept that any money was missing. In evidence, he said that he had agreed to run the office for a friend who was the sub postmaster. He denied making the adjustments before and after the visit by officials. The post office is now under new management.

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Fixed your typo.