Devon postmaster jailed for fraud

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8593980.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A Devon postmaster who tried to blame his estranged wife for stealing £16,000 from Starcross Post Office has been jailed for eight months.

Peter Huxham admitted fraud at Exeter Crown Court, but said he did not know where the cash had gone.

Huxham, 52, of Dawlish, told the court it may have been stolen by his former wife, his children or a cleaner.

But Judge Phillip Wassall said his explanation was "absurd and patently ridiculous".

"I suspected it was my wife," Huxham told the jury.

Drink problem

He said his 22-year marriage was over and claimed his wife might be spending the cash from the Post Office on horses she kept nearby.

The court heard Huxham, who had a problem with alcohol, had run the sub post office and newsagent shop for 25 years, and was a "pillar of the community".

Huxham, from Dawlish, admitted the cash shortfall as auditors were about to check his accounts.

His parents have now paid back the missing £16,158.

Sentencing Huxham, Judge Wassall said: "I do not accept the suspicions you put forward today that your wife may have taken it."

[Lounge Lizard]

a "pillar of the community".
a "pillock .... " more like