Buckley postman caught stealing cash from cards in sting operation

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Shaun Williams was caught after managers put test letters into system which he took out to pocket the cash and gift cards

A postal worker stole greetings cards and the cash and vouchers which were inside them.

A court heard the Royal Mail sent up a covert operation because of the number of cards going missing from the Mold delivery office where Shaun Williams worked.

Investigators put a number of test letters into the system and also put up secret cameras within the delivery area.

When challenged, Williams, 48, was found to have in his wallet £20 in Boots vouchers, a 20 dollar note, three £10 notes and a £5 note which had come from the cards posted by the investigators themselves.

Williams, of Mold Road Buckley , admitted two charges of theft at Mold magistrates court.

Prosecuting barrister Julian King said concern was raised in February at the Mold delivery office that when people attended to collect surcharge items, that they had gone missing.

The losses at Mold were deemed high and an investigation was set up.

I didn't have time to deliver letters

Williams was observed and appeared to be feeling greetings cards as if to see what was inside them.

He was challenged in July and the items which investigators had put into the test letters were found in his wallet.

Williams said that he was sorry, that he had been under a lot of stress.

He believed that he had taken about 250 items and in interview said that he had thrown cards down grids, into bins and into a river and kept the contents.

Postman owns up to theft

The defendant admitted stealing 250 greetings cards and contents between December last year and July 4 this year, and a second charge of stealing 10 greetings cards on July 4.

Gary Harvey, defending, told the court his client was mortified by what he had done.

He had no real financial problems, and he did not know why he had done it.

The catalyst was probably the breakdown of his marriage and subsequent divorce which meant that he started drinking too much.

Postman stole money from greeting cards

But the pressure built up to a point that he did not really know where to go and he had self harmed on two occasions.

He had been sectioned under The Mental Health Act at one stage and was currently on benefits.

Magistrates said it was a serious breach of trust and that the public who used Royal Mail needed to have confidence in the staff and in the service it provided.

In the circumstances he was placed on a three-year conditional discharge with £150 costs, £30 compensation for the one owner who had been traced, £180 criminal court charge and a £15 surcharge.

A total of £1,500 investigation costs were ordered to be paid from central funds.

[wannabeek]

He believed that he had taken about 250 items and in interview said that he had thrown cards down grids, into bins and into a river and kept the contents.

In the circumstances he was placed on a three-year conditional discharge with £150 costs, £30 compensation for the one owner who had been traced, £180 criminal court charge and a £15 surcharge.

A total of £1,500 investigation costs were ordered to be paid from central funds

Woah! Hold on. Really? A total penalty of £375?? (and a criminal record, for what that's worth now)

I know he's lost his job and won't get a similar one again, probably nowhere near the pay scale, but isn't that just the most pathetic slap on the wrist for what he did, or am I being unreasonable here?

Especially infuriating as it seems we the taxpayers are paying the brunt of the costs with the £1,500 costs being paid by the state, unless I'm misunderstanding it?

[NWpostie]

He has lost his pension as well.

He won't be the first or the last to do something as silly as this, you will lose financially I the long term no future employer will touch you, benefits isn't that great, all for a measly few quid.

[Postie45]

a ridiculously lenient sentence imo

[RobertT]

He has lost his pension as well.

Unlikely! The only way a company can take someone’s pension away is if they committed fraud or caused financial loss to the company, and there is no other way of recovering the debt.
That doesn’t seem to be the case here.

[Justiceseeker]

Very interested to read RM now use cameras in their 'sting operations'!
David Mitchell was mocked by the manager who fired him and during his tribunal by the RM lawyer for asking why cameras had not been used in his case.
This guy is guilty but seems in a far better position than David.