Postman binned mail to shorten his round

A POSTMAN who binned mail to shorten his round so he could tend to his sick mother has been spared jail.

Derek Thompson, 58, was fired from An Post for dumping mainly marketing material addressed to residents on his delivery route.

Detective Garda Gerard Doyle revealed that, among this pile of marketing material, there were two letters about medical appointments. The court heard neither addressee missed out on these appointments.

Thompson, of The Fairways, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, Co. Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four charges of preventing the delivery of a postal package without the agreement of the addressee at Old Bray Road, Cabinteely, Dublin, on dates between November 10 and 15, 2016. He has no previous convictions and it was heard he had an ‘unblemished’ 34-year career.

The court was told that a council worker emptying bins in Cabinteely saw about 100 letters, many of them soiled from being in the bin. The court heard An Post identified the delivery route the letters had been on and staff observed Thompson dump more items into a bin in Cabinteely on a later date.

Judge Melanie Greally was told that Thompson believed what he was dumping had been advertising mail, and that he had cut his delivery time short because he wanted to go and help his elderly mother.

Judge Greally noted that Thompson had ‘paid a very high price for his folly’ in losing his job of 34 years. She suspended his sixmonth sentence in full.