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Andrew and Michelle Barratt were caught when a tracker placed on an iPad by Royal Mail bosses pointed to their Stockport home
A thieving postie and his wife raked in more than £15,000 by selling stolen packages on eBay.
Andrew Barratt, 49, stole around 400 packages including sat navs, digital cameras and computer games while working on his round in the Edgeley area of Stockport.
His wife Michelle, 38, would then put the items up for sale on the auction site - taking £15,482 in just two years.
The scheme was foiled in April 2012 when Royal Mail investigators posted an iPod with a tracking device.
When it didn’t arrive at its delivery address the gadget was followed to the Barratt’s home on All Saints Road, Stockport.
Mr Barratt, who had been a postman for 14 years, was jailed for 15 months after admitting theft and converting criminal property at Minshull Street Crown Court.
Mrs Barratt was given 120 hours unpaid work after pleading guilty to converting criminal property.
Judge Leslie Hull said: “The pair of you have involved yourselves in a thoroughly dishonest scheme.”
Police were called when Mr Barratt refused to let Royal Mail officials inside his house and officers later found ‘a large amount of electrical equipment’ and the iPad in his next door neighbour’s hedge.
He was arrested at the scene still wearing his uniform.
Royal Mail investigators fitted a tracking device to an iPad to catch the thief
Most of the items had been sent out by Amazon - which had reported around 2,000 lost packages in the SK3 and SK4 postcodes.
An eBay account under the name ‘ShellB76’ run by Mrs Barratt was found to have sold 463 items - most of them electrical goods - since June 2010.
Their retail value was almost £21,000.
Two of the items - a camcorder and a Sony Walkman - had been reported stolen to police.
She told detectives she had bought the items at car boot sales, despite the fact many of the sales were computer games which had been released just days earlier.
The couple eventually pleaded guilty on the day of the trial in December.
Defending Mr Barratt, Milena Bennett said he had stolen the goods while ‘self-medicating’ psoriasis with cannabis and amphetamines.
She said: “He accepts responsibility and culpability for his actions. He was in a position of trust and he breached that trust.”
For Mrs Barratt, John Richards said: “She completely accepts it was selfish behaviour.”
A Royal Mail spokesman confirmed Barratt was sacked and said they seek to prosecute any members of staff who tamper with mail.
He said: “Royal Mail has a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty and that stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women.
"We will not allow the actions of any individual to damage the good reputation of our thousands of hard-working postmen and women.
“It is a criminal offence to tamper with or delay the delivery of mail and anyone caught doing so will face serious disciplinary measures.
"Royal Mail will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust.”