Postman stashed 40,000 Sheffield letters

[POSTMAN]

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A postman faces jail after delaying the delivery of more than 43,000 letters on his Sheffield round.



Spencer Ballinger stashed 42,936 items of mail, opened 103 and destroyed or damaged another 295 over a period of more than two years,

Letters and gifts dating back to 2011 are now starting to arrive at homes and businesses in Burncross, Grenoside and Chapeltown after Royal Mail recovered the haul.

Ballinger, aged 43, of Thorpe Hesley – who no longer works for Royal Mail – admitted intentionally delaying the mail when he appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

Victim Peter Carder says Ballinger’s dishonesty has cost him ‘£1 a day for the rest of my life’ – through missed letters which meant he lost out on a better pension.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A Sheffield mum shelled out £400 for a minor motoring offence – because a letter about the original fine was one of thousands withheld by a postman.

The 34-year-old mum was even visited by bailiffs demanding the cash after she mistakenly went through a bus gate in Sheffield city centre.

Postman Spencer Ballinger admitted intentionally delaying over 42,000 letters from residents. The Wincobank mum, who did not want to be named, only received the original letter about the fine this week and said she missed a reminder because of a family bereavement.

She said: “The letter that was withheld was saying I had to pay the fine or go to court.

“The next month we had a bailiff knocking on the door.

“He insisted I should have had these letters, but when I said we hadn’t he thought I was lying.

“The children were very upset about it and so was I.

“I ended up paying £400, instead of the £120 it would have cost me originally.”

Ballinger stashed 42,936 items of mail, opened 103 items and destroyed or damaged another 295 over a period of more than two years,

Floods of letters and gifts dating back to 2011 have started to arrive at homes and businesses in Burncross, Grenoside and Chapeltown after Royal Mail recovered the haul.

Ballinger, aged 43, of Thorpe Hesley – who no longer works for Royal Mail – admitted intentionally delaying the mail when he appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

Sentencing was adjourned.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Deperate Sheffield postman ‘out of control’

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A postman who failed to deliver nearly 42,000 items of mail - causing one customer to be visited by bailiffs, and another to miss out on pension payments - has walked free from court.

Spencer Ballinger, whose bedroom was ‘choc-a-block’ with undelivered letters, was handed a 12-month community order.

He must carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work and pay £500 costs.

Simon Gwynne, prosecuting, told Sheffield magistrates’ court: “He was glad when matters came to light. He said if it had continued it would have killed him.”

The court heard investigators searched Ballinger’s home and found his bedroom and two cars stuffed full of mail - 41,874 items in total - which he had failed to deliver.

Sheffield magistrates heard the 43-year-old had become ‘overwhelmed’ with his deliveries, and built up a backlog of thousands of items of post over two years.

Royal Mail bosses launched a covert investigation after receiving complaints about delayed mail from residents in Burncross, Grenoside and Chapeltown.

Mr Gwynne said investigators tailed Ballinger - and caught him tipping post into the boot of his car at the end of his shift.

Ballinger was interviewed by Royal Mail bosses the next day, and told them he was suffering back and knee injuries and had taken the mail home.

“He said he’d planned to reintroduce it at a later stage,” Mr Gwynne added.

“Every time he went into the bedroom - which was chock-a-block with mail - he was aware of the ongoing problem.”

Mr Gwynne said investigators also found around 1,062 items of junk mail, and 103 opened postal packets.

A further 295 items had been damaged because Ballinger, of Blacksmith Court, Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham, had tried to shred them.

One of his victims, a Sheffield nurse, was forced to shell out £400 for a minor motoring offence because a letter about her original fine was one of thousands withheld by Ballinger.

The 34-year-old was even visited by bailiffs demanding cash after she mistakenly drove through a bus gate in Sheffield city centre.

And Peter Carder, 64, of Burncross, told The Star Ballinger’s failure to deliver his post meant he had missed out on a better pension deal - and the postman’s dishonesty would cost him £1 a day for the rest of his life.

Mr Gwynne said the investigation had cost Royal Mail £5,470 and £300 in legal costs.

He said £3,381 in compensation had been recouped from Ballinger’s pension.

Ballinger, who worked for Royal Mail for four years, admitted three charges of delaying and damaging mail.

His solicitor Rachel Baldwin told the court the problem had ‘spiralled out of control’.

“He’s not a man driven by greed, he’s a man driven by desperation,” she said.

Miss Baldwin said Ballinger was in financial difficulties because he was paying off his mother’s loan and credit card debts, plus £80 a month in child maintenance.

She said he worked up to 93 hours a week, sometimes delivering mail by torchlight late into the night in a bid to get his round done.

Miss Baldwin said Ballinger couldn’t tell his bosses there was a problem because taking mail back to the sorting office was a disciplinary offence, and he feared he would be sacked.

[UnhappyGremlin]

“Every time he went into the bedroom - which was chock-a-block with mail - he was aware of the ongoing problem.”
Nice to know he spotted there was a 'problem'.
Miss Baldwin said Ballinger couldn’t tell his bosses there was a problem because taking mail back to the sorting office was a disciplinary offence, and he feared he would be sacked.
Not really true. Had he forewarned of the problem, with a witness, then he would not(should not at least) have been disciplined. And his fears came true, as he was sacked.