Postman hid 3,500 letters

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http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... 00_letters_

Chris Osuh
8/11/2007

A POSTMAN who dumped 700 letters in a river and stashed more than 3,500 at his home has been jailed for six months.

David Millar, 31, of Bucklow Drive, Northenden, claimed that the job had got on top of him because he was battling problems with depression, booze and his partner.

But a judge at Manchester magistrates' court yesterday said he had undermined the integrity of the Royal Mail.

Millar threw letters into the River Mersey over a five-month period. Once his activities were spotted, a team of investigators called at his home.

They found 3,278 packages hidden in a shed and 300 more opened inside the house, the court heard.

Millar admitted five counts of delaying the post and theft.

Yesterday his defence counsel, John Richards, claimed the defendant had only profited £10 from his crimes after opening a greeting card and pocketing what he found.

But in sentencing, district judge Wendy Lloyd said it would never be known how much he had stolen.

Millar also claimed that the 300 letters found opened at his home were linked to a scam involving other people who he could not name.

Mr Richards said: "What Mr Millar wants to point out to the court is it wasn't a case of someone who set out from the start to take mail home for himself, this was someone whose initial intention was to deliver the post but it simply got on top of him."

But in the sentencing hearing, District Judge Wendy Lloyd said Millar had admitted to police that he had targeted greeting cards and `creamed off items of value'.

Sentencing the father of two she said: "We will never know really what was taken as a result of what you did and that's why this case is so difficult and so serious. But the value of what may or may not have taken is not the point.

"Here it appears to me that we have a situation which I accept arose initially from your difficulties but became easy pickings as far as greetings cards which may have had cash in were concerned.

Packets

"There are many, many victims involved here - all the people who did not receive their letters and packets.

"The mail is relied on and the point isn't just the loss of £10 or £20 pounds here and there but the integrity of the post, and the people who may have missed doctors' appointments, job interviews and the results of university and school applications."

She added: "The impact on many individuals' lives would have been significant. You are a young man with some merit, by no means a total write-off, but this isn't one error, it's a large number of criminal matters."

Millar's offences were committed between November 2004 and April 2005. An investigation was launched and after three years in the job, he resigned in April 2005.

Millar was sentenced to two months for delaying and opening postal packets, another two months for stealing mailbags and a further two months for the theft of £10, to run consecutively.

He was also sentenced to two months for the theft of a package belonging to Royal Mail employee, to run concurrently.

He was told he would serve three months behind bars.