Postie dumped mail in store bin

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 11 Oct 2008, 12:47

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Po ... ticle.html

Saturday, October 11, 2008, 07:00

A POSTMAN who dumped a sack full of mail in a recycling bin at a Plymouth supermarket has been given a suspended prison sentence by magistrates.

Shaun Powney, 26, dropped everything in April this year and went to the hospital bedside of his partner after being told she had suffered a miscarriage, the court heard.

Later, Powney put all of the mail he should have delivered that day into a recycling skip at the Asda supermarket.

The mail eventually found its way to the recycling centre at Chelson Meadow, where sharp-eyed staff recovered first and second class letters and informed post office chiefs of their find.

Detective work led them to Powney, who worked out of West Park delivery office, and a search of his car uncovered more undelivered mail.

Powney, of Manston Close, Ernesettle, pleaded guilty to attempting to destroy 423 postal packets between July 17 and August 6.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of intentionally delaying a further 126 postal packets between July 30 and August 7.

The court heard from his solicitor, Anthony Daniel, that Powney had never been in trouble in his life before, but that he was under enormous pressure at the time of the offences.

Mr Daniel said: "His rounds required him to deliver at a tremendous pace over the area he had to cover, which was enormous.

"Rotas were argued about, there were hard, long hours of work, and he said he got no support from his managers."

Powney, he said, had also been "sent to Coventry" by his fellow workers after he crossed the picket line to continue working when they came out on strike earlier this year.

Mr Daniel said Powney, who had been a postman for about 20 months, had been told his girlfriend had been taken to hospital.

He said: "He dropped everything to be with her, but he hadn't delivered the mail he'd been given.

"He didn't go to his manager, because he said he got no help from him. It built up and built up and in the end he put it in a recycling bin.''

Magistrates heard that the "recycled" post, dated between April 28 and 30, had been retrieved by post office staff and had been subsequently delivered to the rightful recipients.

Mr Daniel said that the 126 postal items found in the boot of Powney's car on the day he was questioned by his bosses would have been delivered the following day.

He said Powney had earlier received treatment by his doctor and had subsequently fallen asleep instead of delivering his mail.

Powney, he said, put it in the boot of his car with the intention of delivering it the following day, which was his day off.

Mr Daniel said: "He has benefited nothing from this.

"He has probably worked more hours than he was paid for.

"He had too much to do and too much was required of him, plus there was the victimisation for working through the strike."

Magistrates heard that Powney had not yet gained other employment, and that he was effectively a carer for his father, who had a heart problem.

Magistrates told Powney that the offences he had committed while in a position of trust were so serious that only custody was justified.

They sentenced him to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.

They also ordered him to carry out 200 hours unpaid work in the community and to pay £200 court costs and £32.94 compensation.

kay_thebigbird · Post by **kay_thebigbird** » 11 Oct 2008, 16:43

More & more work being put on the poor old postie, when they gonna realise you can only do so much in the hours you work, some of these deliverys are far to big & heavy & they are still trying to load us up with even more, shocking.Like to see the managers go out & do some real work.

Post by **baldrick** » 11 Oct 2008, 20:21

If he had supported the strikes he might not have had more and more added to his delivery.
No sympathy from me.

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 11 Oct 2008, 20:37

VICTOR'S JUSTICE!.

kay_thebigbird · Post by **kay_thebigbird** » 11 Oct 2008, 21:55

baldrick wrote:If he had supported the strikes he might not have had more and more added to his delivery.
No sympathy from me.

You are very right,you should never cross a picket line,but I just feel sorry for all his problems,strike's put to one side.It must be the mother in me,bit of a sap with any sob story's.

BELIAL · Post by **BELIAL** » 11 Oct 2008, 22:11

kay_thebigbird wrote:
baldrick wrote:If he had supported the strikes he might not have had more and more added to his delivery.
No sympathy from me.
You are very right,you should never cross a picket line,but I just feel sorry for all his problems,strike's put to one side.It must be the mother in me,bit of a sap with any sob story's.

Or is it sob storys? Maybe it's the folks with problems who fall down first,hence the common tales of woe. Easy to make snap judgements ,but who knows whats ahead

paulsmd · Post by **paulsmd** » 12 Oct 2008, 09:21

kay_thebigbird wrote:More & more work being put on the poor old postie, when they gonna realise you can only do so much in the hours you work, some of these deliverys are far to big & heavy & they are still trying to load us up with even more, shocking.Like to see the managers go out & do some real work.

[quote[ We had the same thing happen in our mlo, with a postman who did not go on strike.
May be this tell you something about that sort of postman.