The man admitted to taking home undelivered mail before the end of his shifts (image for illustration only, does not show the accused) Oliverouge 3/Shutterstock
Wanting to finish work early is a common desire, but one French postman has taken it the extreme, after 13,000 undelivered letters were found at his home due to him clocking off before the end of his shifts.
The postman is set to appear in court in Vienne in January 2025, after the ‘mountain’ of undelivered post was discovered in his garage. He is to be charged with “a breach of trust to the detriment of La Poste”, said the magistrate.
The man had been working on a La Poste CDI (permanent) contract for a year, based in L’Isle-d’Abeau (Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).
“The accused admitted storing mail that he had not delivered” because he was unable to finish his rounds, said Vienne Deputy Public Prosecutor Delphine Moncuit to France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on July 23.
She did not state whether the man had been ‘unable’ to finish his rounds for a ‘legitimate’ reason, such as injury, or had simply chosen not to - but he is accused of failing to deliver post for several months without informing his employer.
The mail was discovered after La Poste lodged a formal complaint. A disciplinary process is underway into how the situation occurred.
At-home searches
The man’s home was also being searched as authorities were worried about a ‘katana’ Japanese sword that he was also keeping in his garage.
Before working for La Poste, the accused had been a delivery driver for the Services-Courrier-Colis (parcel delivery) branch in the town of Bourgoin-Jallieu, which also distributes packages and letters in the area.
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La Poste said that he had also worked as a stand-in postman on rounds within a radius of “around 50 kilometres around Bourgoin-Jallieu”.
The undelivered mountain of mail is now finally set to be delivered to its rightful recipients, along with a letter of apology for the delay.