http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news ... g_mail.php
By Court Reporter
A DRUG addicted postman has been jailed for stock-piling mail at his home.
Jamie Lavender, of Savoy Road, Dartford was sentenced to eight months behind bars for mishandling mail he was supposed to deliver.
Last week, Maidstone Crown Court heard when his home was searched under warrant for unrelated offences, 9,438 junk mail items were found, along with 431 packages.
The court had been told a spiralling cocaine habit was behind the mail thefts which Lavender, 22, pleaded guilty to.
Tom Allen, defending, told the court Lavender, who had been a postman since May 2005 "simply could not do his job."
He said:"He wouldn't complete his round without going home. He simply took the items home."
Mr Allen suggested a suspended sentence would the most "positive way" to handle the case for his client, who he said is still abusing drugs and alcohol.
However, Recorder David Bate QC, said Lavender had been put in a position of trust and added: "The public has a right to expect that mail will be delivered.
"It seems to me you committed these offences because you were in the grip of a cocaine habit which prevented you from completing your daily deliveries.
"I have reluctantly reached the view that the offences are so serious that neither fine nor community service can be justified.
"I keep it to the very shortest which matches the seriousness of the offence. You will serve half, namely a period of four months."
Lavender was fired from his job last year after police found the stash of mail in his house.
2:51am Tuesday 28th August 2007
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Drug addict postman jailed for stock-piling mail
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Drug addict postman jailed for stock-piling mail
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What worries me is I guarantee management knew he was a drug addict and was struggling with deliveries but as usual decided to turn a blind eye as it was not their problem.
A similar thing happened to a colleague of mine a couple of years back,he was in his 50's and struggling to cope with deliveries and was regularly delivering mail as late as 7pm.He had 14 blocks of flats which he had to ring bells every day to access.His communication was poor so he did not know how to ask for help.
To add to this he was regularly teased by colleagues in the office.
The ironic thing was the D.O.M at the time lived on the walk this postman was delivering to and knew the situation first hand.
Just before christmas the line manager and union rep searched a high capacity trolley in the yard only to find hundreds of mail sort items and over a dozen 1st class and recorded items.
The postman was sacked and lost out on his pension all of which could have been avoided if management or even the union which he had contributed to for years would have opened their eyes and helped but no that is too much to ask.Not to mention the customers who lost their mail again totally unnecessarily.
A sad story as I'm sure the case of the drug addict in Dartford also was.
A similar thing happened to a colleague of mine a couple of years back,he was in his 50's and struggling to cope with deliveries and was regularly delivering mail as late as 7pm.He had 14 blocks of flats which he had to ring bells every day to access.His communication was poor so he did not know how to ask for help.
To add to this he was regularly teased by colleagues in the office.
The ironic thing was the D.O.M at the time lived on the walk this postman was delivering to and knew the situation first hand.
Just before christmas the line manager and union rep searched a high capacity trolley in the yard only to find hundreds of mail sort items and over a dozen 1st class and recorded items.
The postman was sacked and lost out on his pension all of which could have been avoided if management or even the union which he had contributed to for years would have opened their eyes and helped but no that is too much to ask.Not to mention the customers who lost their mail again totally unnecessarily.
A sad story as I'm sure the case of the drug addict in Dartford also was.