West Reading postie escapes jail after credit card theft

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A THIEVING postman who stole credit cards from his deliveries has been spared time in jail so he can continue to provide for his five children.

Pedro De Barros, of Curzon Street, west Reading, was convicted of two counts of theft after taking a number of credit cards and fraudulently spending £1,677 using one of them. He denied both charges.

The court heard how the 35-year-old could have faced up to two years behind bars but as Judge Johannah Cutts QC delivered her verdict she felt that his position as a working family man made prison an inappropriate punishment.

Judge Cutts said: “This case is particularly serious because you are a postman and as a postman you are in a significant position of trust.

“The public must have trust in the system which is frequently used to post items of value.”

De Barros was found to have pocketed five Barclaycard credit cards in July 2012 which were then set to be passed on to a third party. Judge Cutts said: “I accept that you were not the instigator in this fraud and that the cards were asked for by another party.

“Those who wished to obtain them then had to intercept them and that is where you came in.

“Your duty in that matter was to report it to the police or one of your supervisors.

“Instead, you were persuaded to take those packages.”

The five children and wider family who rely on De Barros’ current income as a vending machine delivery driver were taken into account when Judge Cutts gave her verdict.

He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for the fraudulent payments and six months’ imprisonment for taking the credit cards to run concurrently, with both sentences being suspended for 12 months.

De Barros was also ordered to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work, pay £800 towards court costs and take part in a thinking skills programme.