from Edinburghs evening news

[Barry Trotter]

'Stressed' postie avoids jail after stashing thousands of letters at home




A POSTMAN has avoided jail after stashing over a thousand letters in his house.
Scott Hamilton, 30, claimed he was under "considerable stress" and was struggling with his round.

He insisted he was still "a good postie," but was sacked by Royal Mail and is now about to start a job as a bus driver.

Hamilton was fined £1,000 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today with Sheriff Derrick McIntyre telling him: "This was a breach of trust and you didn't handle the stress very well."

Hamilton blamed his inability to cope with pressure on a car accident which happened over a decade ago, when he lapsed into a coma for 13 days.

Over 6 months between April and October last year, Hamilton hid 1,500 letters in his car before taking them to his home in Gorebridge, Midlothian.

A member of the public spotted the pile of unopened letters and alerted staff at the Musselburgh sorting office.

Investigators found he had stashed the mail under an old carpet near his front door. Hamilton admitted the post was meant to be put through doors in Wallyford, East Lothian, but said he was too busy to get round to it.

During a police interview, Hamilton, who worked for Royal Mail for six years, said: "I'm quite a good postie. I do all the hours God sends. I was just under pressure."

A charge alleging that he had opened some packages was dropped early on in the case, leading to his guilty plea.

A postal service manager was also sent to his home to investigate, according to fiscal depute Karen Rollins.

She said: "The manager recovered the mail and was able to see from the addresses and date stamps that he had been the delivery postman.

"He admitted he hadn't delivered all of the mail in the Wallyford area on 22 September and he indicated that he intended to deliver this post the following Monday but he didn't have the time to do so and kept them in his vehicle."

Lawyer Matthew Patrick claimed Hamilton was still suffering from the effects of the coma. He said: "He was under considerable stress due to his work load and became overwhelmed and didn't do the right thing.

"He was involved in a serious car accident in his early twenties where he was in a coma which seems to have affected him so he doesn't deal with stress very well.

"He did speak to his line manager but nothing was done about it."
Both Hamilton and the Royal Mail were to blame according to Sheriff McIntyre.

He said: "There were faults on both sides in dealing with this problem.
"This is a breach of trust and you didn't handle the stress very well.

"But there's no question that the packets had been interfered with so I'll deal with it by way of a fine."








The full article contains 489 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.Page 1 of 1

Last Updated: 10 October 2008 11:51 AM
Source: Edinburgh Evening News
Location: Edinburgh

[Barry Trotter]

should point out,I wouldnt want the idiot driving any bus I was on.

[janitor]

So a man suffering with stress due to a traffic accident , gets a job as a bus driver.