Sub-postmaster jailed for £61,000 fraud

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A trusted sub-postmaster fiddled £61,000 from his books in a desperate bid to keep his business going.

Paul Mitchell is today beginning a 12-month jail term after his fraud at the post office he ran in Mere Knolls Road, Fulwell, was discovered.

The 47-year-old has now pleaded guilty to four specimen counts of fraud at Newcastle Crown Court.

The former Nissan worker had been running the post office for five years and would have pocketed an £89,000 pay-off under Royal Mail's compensation scheme after the branch was earmarked for closure.

But when irregularities were spotted in his accounts and his crime uncovered, the deal vanished.

Mitchell siphoned off £60,908, using cash from a National Lottery stand to pay business bills and buy stock.

He would do this on a daily basis and every month inflate his accounts to hide the missing money.

This happened over a 10-month period, from December 2007.

At first he claimed to have borrowed the money and used it to start up a new business until a bank loan came through.

But he eventually confessed the cash was used to keep the post office running.

Mitchell has already repaid nearly £13,000 of the stolen cash, handing over a cheque for £11,200 after cashing in a pension plan, then paying monthly instalments of £100.

Defending, Robin Patton said Mitchell took on the post office branch to help his sick wife, who suffered problems relating to depression, and continued working at Nissan to cover its costs.

But when he was forced to quit his job of 20 years on the production line due to severe neck problems, the money ran dry and he turned to fraud.

He added that Mitchell had lost his home and was about to be made bankrupt.

Recorder Jeremy Freedman ordered Mitchell, of Whickham Street East, Roker, to serve a 12-month prison sentence, saying it was a "very grave breach of trust".

But he added: "It is not a case of someone helping themselves to large amounts of money to have a high standard of living. You were doing no more than meeting your day-to-day requirements."