Gateshead postwoman dumped 10,000 letters

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-ea ... -24303021/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A POSTIE dumped, shredded and burned more than 10,000 items of post because her bag was too heavy to carry.

To make her bag lighter, slim Kirsty Dart left items she considered “unimportant” in her car and at her home, planning to deliver them later.

But they mounted up and in a panic she shredded some and burned others.

An investigation was launched when people living on the 22-year-old’s Gateshead round complained.

A search of her car revealed 110 items of post, and at her home there were 17 Royal Mail sacks and a bin bag containing 5,736 door-to-door packets, commonly known as junk mail.

A further 4,227 items of undelivered post were found at her Gateshead home.

Also two bags of shredded mail were recovered. This was weighed and estimated to have been around 219 pieces of mail. There was also a sack found containing postal packets in her bin.

Gateshead magistrates heard that the post involved should have been delivered by Dart who worked out of the Team Valley Sorting Office in Gateshead between last October and March, when she quit.

Dart, from Watt Street, Bensham, Gateshead, who at an earlier hearing pleaded guilty to arson, criminal damage and two counts of delaying post was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and pay Royal Mail £214 compensation for having to redeliver the items, plus pay £500 court costs.

Royal Mail prosecutor Paul Heron said: “She told the investigators that the delivery was too heavy for her to cope with and she sifted through the material taking out what she perceived were the heavy items to deliver them using her car after she had delivered the letters.”

Mr Heron said managers deny that she made repeated complaints about her load. On one occasion when she mentioned it, her manager advised her to split her load by doing the round twice but she said this would mean she would have to walk further.

On another occasion, he said, she rang to ask for help but was told at the time there was no-one available. And was told that if she had a problem she should have flagged it up before leaving the office.

Defending Mick Foley said Dart originally applied for a job as a driver because of the hernia she had suffered a few years before. But when the delivery job was offered she snapped it up because she was desperate for a job as her partner is a student and she subsidises her.

“She took the job thinking she could manage,” he said. “But she found it difficult from the start because she is a slight young woman.”

When help was not forthcoming, she should have resigned, he said. But she needed the money.

After the case a Royal Mail spokesman said: "Royal Mail has a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty and that stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of our postmen and women.”

[TrueBlueTerrier]

The moral of this story is do your D2Ds and stand up for your rights.

[brothermagrew]

The moral of this story is do your D2Ds and stand up for your rights.

True oh so true but "To make her bag lighter, slim Kirsty Dart left items she considered “unimportant” in her car and at her home, planning to deliver them later". As I read this sentence can one rightly infer that she was also using her private car whilst on delivery, and if this is the case surely another moral of this story is not to use your private vehicle for delivering business mail.

[DGP1]

This sound more like 'I couldn't be bothered to deliver this stuff so I'll make my excuse that it was too heavy' because all you have to do is open your mouth and tell the managers that you can't cope and let them work a solution for you.

[Pat Ostman]

all you have to do is open your mouth and tell the managers that you can't cope and let them work a solution for you.

not always that easy mate, the managers normally open up their mouths and tell you to complete...

[DGP1]

all you have to do is open your mouth and tell the managers that you can't cope and let them work a solution for you.

not always that easy mate, the managers normally open up their mouths and tell you to complete...

I know it takes a lot of balls to stand up to them but if you do it enough they eventually stop questioning you, it only took me a year of constant cut offs/no OT/working to my time to get them to back off (it may be only temporary but it does feel like a victory).

[Pat Ostman]

all you have to do is open your mouth and tell the managers that you can't cope and let them work a solution for you.

not always that easy mate, the managers normally open up their mouths and tell you to complete...

I know it takes a lot of balls to stand up to them but if you do it enough they eventually stop questioning you, it only took me a year of constant cut offs/no OT/working to my time to get them to back off (it may be only temporary but it does feel like a victory).

Aye, I do just the same but at the moment they question my ability, my speeds and my motivation. They have not taken up my offer to test me though.

[DGP1]

all you have to do is open your mouth and tell the managers that you can't cope and let them work a solution for you.

not always that easy mate, the managers normally open up their mouths and tell you to complete...

I know it takes a lot of balls to stand up to them but if you do it enough they eventually stop questioning you, it only took me a year of constant cut offs/no OT/working to my time to get them to back off (it may be only temporary but it does feel like a victory).

Aye, I do just the same but at the moment they question my ability, my speeds and my motivation. They have not taken up my offer to test me though.

It's good to know that it's not just me I always find it strange that the managers never show you how it can be done in their made up times.

[Judgee]

I think she got off lightly. People trust us to deliver thier mail and she was obviously just lazy. What message does this send out to other postman... "claim ten grand in wages over a few months and dump ya mail cos you wont really get punished for it!"

If she couldnt cope she should have taken the mail back at the end of her round. I don't care what anyone says about bullying by management, yes it does go on but clearly she wasn't bothered about criminal activity. So I find it hard to believe that a stiff talking to by management would bother her in the slightest either.

Lazy cow should have been locked up

There was a young postwoman in our office that did the same thing and she got off by saying it was all down to stress? Over half my office is suffering from stress right now but they still do thier jobs

[andy2007]

Yes Judgee, you're right. The sooner they start giving out proper deterrants against this type of thing, the sooner we can repair our damaged reputation.

Now don't get me wrong: She probably was overwhelmed by the workload. But if that was the case, she should have tried to stand up to her Manager. If that failed, then do what so many others do. And deliver as much as possible, and then cut off, or do overtime. Just hiding, or worse still, destroying the mail, should never be an option. If there were serious deterrants, they wouldn't even consider trying it, would they?

[toffee]

Why have you people got nothing better to do than sit on here and get yourselves all upset about the fact that some people didnt get some junk posted through their doors that they wont even look at anyway?! Get over it!
I seriously recommend you get a real hobby!!

You dont know the girl and you dont know the situation, youve merely heard a snippet of what been published by the press- hardly a reliable source!
So save your insults of 'lazy cow' for someone who deserves it!

[Stormproof]

Why don't you tell us the real story then toffee? Good first post BTW

[toffee]

As someone who knows the girl personally, she is down to earth, intelligent and has no previous criminal record.
I would imagine she has higher qualifications than most of the people on here.
I also know that what is printed in the evening chronice is often exaggerated as far as it possibly can be, and so it would be quite ignorant of people to think that that is where the story starts and ends. Funnily enough, it isnt.

Whoever hasnt made a mistake before cast the first stone.

No-one? Thought not.

[dvbuk55]

As someone who knows the girl personally, she is down to earth, intelligent and has no previous criminal record.
I would imagine she has higher qualifications than most of the people on here.
I also know that what is printed in the evening chronice is often exaggerated as far as it possibly can be, and so it would be quite ignorant of people to think that that is where the story starts and ends. Funnily enough, it isnt.

Whoever hasnt made a mistake before cast the first stone.

No-one? Thought not.

Get off your high horse, delaying mail is an offence. 10,000 items in 6 months - I'm surprised she delivered any at all. For someone who is reputedly "highly qualified" and intelligent committing that offence wasn't too bright. Personally I think she got off lightly.

[postietaz]

think you walky posties are turning soft if you cant get the job done in time it dont get done quite simple really,if your dom kicks up tell him "we could go head 2 head ,u do a round and ill do a round whoever delivers the least resigns, that should shut the dick ed up