Bartley Green postman given suspended jail term for stealing

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A CROOKED postman has received a suspended prison sentence after admitting stealing hundreds of pounds worth of gifts and vouchers from letters.

Royal Mail launched a probe after dozens of complaints from householders about missing post, Birmingham Magistrates Court heard.

An investigation discovered they had gone astray after being sent to a sorting office in Rednal where postman Brendan Webb was based.






Suspecting Webb, 39, to be the culprit, the firm set up a covert surveillance operation in May to watch his every move – and caught him red-handed.

John Dove, prosecuting, told the court: “He was observed removing two packages and placing them in his own delivery round rather than where they should have gone.”

Undercover officers followed Webb while he did his deliveries and caught him in the act as he ripped open envelopes and stole the contents, Mr Dove added.

Webb, who had worked for Royal Mail for eight years, was immediately suspended.

Police officers carried out a search of his car where they found a Top Gear DVD and a bottle of expensive perfume.

They then raided his home in Cayman Road, Bartley Green, where they found 29 gift cards and vouchers worth over £600.

“He said he had used some of the credit on the gift cards to buy toiletries for his family,” said Mr Dove, who added Webb later confessed to stealing mail items for up to six months.

The thieving postman this week pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of a mail bag and one of attempted theft and was jailed for 26 weeks, which was suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £400 prosecution costs.

Paul Nicholls, defending, said Webb felt “desperately ashamed and full of remorse”. He said the incident had placed great stress on his wife, a teaching assistant, and their five children.

“He went to his church and GP for counselling,” he added. “He said he does not know why he did it, it was like an addiction.”

Webb had resigned from Royal Mail and had offered to work for the firm voluntarily to make up for the costs incurred by the thefts, but the company declined the offer, he added.

Webb was now trying to “pay back” the community by doing charity work with homeless people, teenage tearaways, alcoholics and drug addicts, said Mr Nicholls.