Leeds postman's £3,500 theft

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A postman who stole almost £3,500 in cash from parcels he was supposed to deliver in Leeds has been jailed for six months.

Jaroslav Rickman, 47, ruined a 21-year-old good work record when he intercepted cash parcels after getting into financial difficulty.

A court heard how he was arrested after being put under surveillance by his bosses at Royal Mail.

Marlon Grossman, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court how Rickman came under suspicion after a complaint from a member of the public.

Gary Simpson posted a special delivery – a Jiffy bag containing £1,510 cash – at the East End Park post office.

When the parcel arrived it was found to contain no money.

Days later he made another delivery of £1,130 cash but the contents were interfered with again. On both occasions the packages had been re-sealed at the bottom with tape.

The matter was reported and an investigation carried out.

Rickman was found to have been working on both dates and was placed under surveillance on August 24 last year.

Two packages containing foreign currency were introduced to the mail he was due to collect and deliver.

They were later found to have been opened but the money was still inside.

The following day another package containing money was placed into the mail and he was seen putting it into his van.

Just after 6pm the same day his van was stopped by investigators at the mail centre in East End Park.

Rickman told them he had £1,000 in his jacket but it was his 'spending money' which he had withdrawn from the bank.

The mail was checked and £1,000 was found to have been taken from it.

Rickman later admitted he had opened three packages and took cash and looked for money in another.

Mr Grossman said the £1,000 he had on him was recovered along with some of the cash from the earlier thefts, which had been found in his van.

A total of £1,715 remained uncovered.

Rickman, of Manor Crescent, Rothwell, pleaded guilty to three charges of theft and one of interfering with a postal package.

Jane Dodson, mitigating, said Rickman had been a postal worker for 21 years and the offences took place over a three week period.

She said the offences had ruined his good reputation and he had never been in trouble with the police before.

Ms Dodson said Rickman accepted the gravity of the offence, which he committed due to growing financial pressures which were partly caused after he was overpaid by £1,300 at work and was having to repay the cash.

Jailing him, Judge Rodney Grant described the offences as a serious breach of trust which could only be marked by a custodial sentence.

He said: "The members of the public who entrust their mail to Royal Mail are entitled to have confidence that the items will remain safe and be delivered to the addresses to which they are sent.

"You undermined that confidence."

[Lounge Lizard]

"She said the offences had ruined his good reputation and he had never been in trouble with the police before." and that's precisely what the defence solicitor ALWAYS says.