Mail worker stashed 20,000 letters away and claimed he had had a hernia problem when caught
A shamed former postman has been jailed for hoarding almost 20,000 letters for an astonishing six years.
Lee Sullivan stashed 14,000 deliveries at his Birmingham home and dumped another 4,000 on a trolley at a mail depot.
The Birmingham Mail revealed the 44-year-old’s crimes last Friday.
Now he has been sent to prison for 28 weeks.
Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard Sullivan struggled to keep up with his rounds because of a hernia problem – but he could not explain why some of the post had been opened.
John Dove, prosecuting, said Sullivan was fired by Royal Mail in March last year for “inexcusable delays” in his deliveries.
But it was only almost a year after his dismissal that the 4,000 items of mail were found on the trolley.
That triggered the discovery of more than 14,000 letters at his home in Chingford Road, Kingstanding.
The oldest dated back to 2007 while the most recent dated from weeks before he was fired.
Mr Dove said: “He was invited for an interview. He said he was under pressure at the time and he had trouble with a hernia. He accepted he was responsible for delaying the mail.”
Sullivan told interviewers he held mail back to complete rounds faster and he intended to deliver it the next day.
But he denied taking anything from the packages.
Mr Dove said: “He couldn’t explain why he opened them but said he was being nosey.”
He said 843 of the items were later re-posted, at a cost to Royal Mail of more than £67.
Sullivan previously admitted three charges of delaying or opening a postal packet, contrary to the Postal Services Act 2000.
Graham McGrath, defending, said Sullivan had been open and frank with the authorities once he had been rumbled.
“He’s not only lost a job, but a job he would have seen through for the rest of his life,” said Mr McGrath.
“He started in a very small way, holding back items on the basis he would deliver them tomorrow.
“We all know when tomorrow comes.”
Mr McGrath said Sullivan had been diagnosed with depression, was estranged from his father and sister and was a “lonely, isolated man”.
