Postie destroyed or delayed mail

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A postman delayed delivering mail for up to two-and-a-half years because he could not cope, a court heard.

Unopened letters, opened packages and thousands of circulars were found at David Hugh Webb's rented flat after he moved.

The postman was suffering from depression while his marriage was breaking down.

At Leicester Crown Court, Webb (49), formerly of St Marys Road, Market Harborough, admitted destroying 937 letters, delaying 980 items and theft relating to 99 packets, which he had opened, between February 2009 and May last year.

He was given a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Robert Brown said: "I'm satisfied these offences arose from your inability to cope with the demands of your job.

"You stored letters and circulars intending to deliver them later but never did.

"You breached the trust of the Post Office and let down the public you were supposed to serve."

John Dove, prosecuting on behalf of the Royal Mail, said Webb was a postman for 10 years before quitting his job in August last year.

In October, the landlord of Webb's flat contacted the local delivery office to report that undelivered mail had been abandoned there.

Mr Dove said 4,035 undelivered circulars and 1,929 unopened letters were in the flat.

Although 97 packets had been opened, the contents were left with their wrapping.

The Post Office belatedly delivered everything it could, with a letter of explanation.

Webb had earlier tried storing some mail in a shed and dug other items into the garden at his former matrimonial home, before the break-up.

His wife made him take it away with him, including weathered and deteriorated letters, which he had taken to his flat.

When arrested, Webb, who had moved to Charles Street, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, immediately admitted his wrongdoing, saying: "I'll put my hand up to every single bit of this."

James Bide-Thomas, mitigating, said: "He found his job was slipping out of his control.

"He'd wanted to deliver them at a later date but once he got behind it became impossible to catch up.

"The damaging of the mail relates to where he had (earlier) tried to store them outside.

"He has a long history of mental health problems.

"As a young man he was in the armed forces but left due to extreme bullying after throwing himself out of a third-storey window to avoid a beating.

"Recently, he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder."

Mr Bide-Thomas said there was no evidence of any financial gain.